A universal feeling, whether well or ill founded, cannot be safely disregarded.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
The basic idea which runs right through modern history and modern liberalism is that the public has got to be marginalized. The general public are viewed as no more than ignorant and meddlesome outsiders, a bewildered herd.
—Noam Chomsky (b.1928) American Linguist, Social Critic
If it has to choose who is to be crucified, the crowd will always save Barabbas.
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French Poet, Playwright, Film Director
For such will be our ruin if you, in the immensity of your public abstractions, forget the private figure, or if we in the intensity of our private emotions forget the public world. Both houses will be ruined, the public and the private, the material and the spiritual, for they are inseparably connected.
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) English Novelist
Every man who loves his country, or wishes well to the best interests of society, will show himself a decided friend not only of morality and the laws, but of religious institutions, and honorably bear his part in supporting them.
—Joel Hawes
The public wishes itself to be managed like a woman; one must say nothing to it except what it likes to hear.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
It has taken me nearly twenty years of studied self-restraint, aided by the natural decay of my faculties, to make myself dull enough to be accepted as a serious person by the British public; and I am not sure that I am not still regarded as a suspicious character in some quarters.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Always reward your long hours of labor and toil in the very best way, surrounded by your family. Nurture their love carefully, remembering that your children need models, not critics, and your own progress will hasten when you constantly strive to present your best side to your children. And even if you have failed at all else in the eyes of the world, if you have a loving family, you are a success.
—Og Mandino (1923–96) American Self-Help Author
The public, with its mob yearning to be instructed, edified and pulled by the nose, demands certainties; it must be told definitely and a bit raucously that this is true and that is false. But there are no certainties.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude. Every man will speak as he thinks, or, more properly, without thinking, and consequently will judge of effects without attending to their causes.
—George Washington (1732–99) American Head of State, Military Leader
Public opinion, or public sentiment, is able to sustain, or to pull down any law of the commonwealth.
—Charles Simmons (1924–2017) American Editor, Novelist
That is, in a great degree, true of all men, which was said of the Athenians, that they were like sheep, of which a flock is more easily driven than a single one.
—Richard Whately (1787–1863) English Philosopher, Theologian
The worthiest man to be known, and for a pattern to be presented to the world, he is the man of whom we have most certain knowledge. He hath been declared and enlightened by the most clear-seeing men that ever were; the testimonies we have of him are in faithfulness and sufficiency most admirable.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
The Public is a thing I cannot help looking upon as an enemy, and which I cannot address without feelings of hostility.
—John Keats (1795–1821) English Poet
The more you stay in this kind of job, the more you realize that a public figure, a major public figure, is a lonely man.
—Richard Nixon (1913–94) American Head of State, Lawyer
I never know when I press these whether I am going to blow up Massachusetts or start the project.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
A man in public life expects to be sneered at—it is the fault of his elevated situation, and not of himself.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
Very few public men but look upon the public as their debtors and their prey; so much for their pride and honesty.
—Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann (1728–1795) Swiss Philosophical Writer, Naturalist, Physician
The urgent consideration of the public safety may undoubtedly authorize the violation of every positive law. How far that or any other consideration may operate to dissolve the natural obligations of humanity and justice, is a doctrine of which I still desire to remain ignorant.
—Edward Gibbon (1737–94) English Historian, Politician
No decent career was ever founded on a public.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) American Novelist
Yes; the public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
I am not a perfect servant. I am a public servant doing my best against the odds. As I develop and serve, be patient. God is not finished with me yet.
—Jesse Jackson (b.1941) American Baptist Civil Rights Activist, Minister
The approval of the public is to be avoided like the plague. It is absolutely essential to keep the public from entering if one wishes to avoid confusion. I must add that the public must be kept panting in expectation at the gate by a system of challenges and provocations.
—Andre Breton (1896–1966) French Poet, Essayist, Critic
Deeply earnest and thoughtful people stand on shaky footing with the public.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
There is not a more mean, stupid, dastardly, pitiless, selfish, spiteful, envious, ungrateful animal than the Public. It is the greatest of cowards, for it is afraid of itself.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
The public is wiser than the wisest critic.
—George Bancroft (1800–91) American Historian, Politician
Individuals are occasionally guided by reason, crowds never.
—William Motter Inge (1913–73) American Playwright, Novelist
The English public, as a mass, takes no interest in a work of art until it is told that the work in question is immoral.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
The public seldom forgive twice.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
Let a man proclaim a new principle. Public sentiment will surely be on the other side.
—Thomas Brackett Reed (1839–1902) American Politician, Lawyer