As changeable is the moon so is the opinion of the woman.
—French Proverb
How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
I will utter what I believe today, if it should contradict all I said yesterday.
—Wendell Phillips (1811–84) American Abolitionist, Lawyer, Orator
Men are disturbed not by things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
When I want your opinion I’ll give it to you.
—Laurence J. Peter (1919–90) Canadian-born American Educator, Author
History is a voice forever sounding across the centuries the laws of right and wrong. Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity. For every false word or unrighteous deed, for cruelty and oppression, for lust or vanity, the price has to be paid at last.
—James Anthony Froude (1818–94) British Historian, Novelist, Biographer, Editor
Altered opinions do not alter a man’s character (or do so very little); but they do illuminate individual aspects of the constellation of his personality which with a different constellation of opinions had hitherto remained dark and unrecognizable.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
The feeble tremble before opinion, the foolish defy it, the wise judge it, the skillful direct it.
—Madame Roland (1754–93) French Writer, Revolutionary
Every man is a fool in some man’s opinion.
—Spanish Proverb
Be sure to have a controversial opinion, and men will talk about you.
—Arabic Proverb
Predominant opinions are generally the opinions of the generation that is vanishing.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
They look for a victim to chivy, and howl him down, and finally lynch him in a sheer storm of sexual frenzy which they honestly imagine to be moral indignation, patriotic passion or some equally allowable emotion, it may be an innocent Negro, a Jew like Leo Frank, a harmless half-witted German; a Christ-like idealist of the type of Debs, an enthusiastic reformer like Emma Goldman.
—Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) English Occultist, Mystic, Magician
The world is governed much more by opinion than by laws. It is not the judgment of courts, but the moral judgment of individuals and masses of men: which is the chief wall of defence around property and life. With the progress of society, this power of opinion is taking the place of arms.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
Public Opinion… an attempt to organize the ignorance of the community, and to elevate it to the dignity of physical force.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
One of the mistakes in the conduct of human life is to suppose that other men’s opinions are to make us happy.
—Richard Burton (1925–84) Welsh Actor
The measure of a master is his success in bringing all men around to his opinion twenty years later.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Nothing so obstinately stands in the way of all sorts of progress as pride of opinion; while nothing is so foolish and baseless.
—Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819–81) American Editor, Novelist
Differences of opinion give me but little concern; but it is a real pleasure to be brought into communication with any one who is in earnest, and who really look to God’s will as his standard of right and wrong, and judges of actions according to their greater or less conformity.
—Thomas Arnold (1795–1842) English Educationalist
One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions.
—Grace Hopper (1906–92) American Naval Officer, Mathematician
Public opinion contains all kinds of falsity and truth, but it takes a great man to find the truth in it. The great man of the age is the one who can put into words the will of his age, tell his age what its will is, and accomplish it. What he does is the heart and the essence of his age, he actualizes his age. The man who lacks sense enough to despise public opinion expressed in gossip will never do anything great.
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) German Philosopher
If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Impossibility is an opinion, not a fact.
—Indian Proverb
Arguments only confirm people in their own opinions.
—Booth Tarkington (1869–1946) American Novelist, Dramatist
We would not let ourselves be burned to death for our opinions: we are not sure enough of them for that. But perhaps for the right to have our opinions and to change them.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
The only means of strengthening one’s intellect is to make up one’s mind about nothing—to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts. Not a select party.
—John Keats (1795–1821) English Poet
The deadliest contagion is majority opinion.
—Indian Proverb
A difference of opinion is what makes horse racing and missionaries.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
The essayist is a self-liberated man, sustained by the childish belief that everything he thinks about, everything that happens to him, is of general interest. He is a fellow who thoroughly enjoys his work, just as people who take bird walks enjoy theirs. Each excursion of the essayist, each new attempt, differs from the last and takes him into new country. This delights him. Only a person who is congenitally self-centered has the effrontery and the stamina to write essays. There are as many kinds of essays as there are human attitudes or poses, as many essay flavors as there are Howard Johnson ice creams. The essayist arises in the morning and, if he has work to do, selects his garb from an unusually extensive wardrobe: he can pull on any sort of shirt, be any sort of person
—E. B. White (1985–99) American Essayist, Humorist
In every fat book there is a thin book trying to get out.
—Unknown
There never were in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist