“Someone was talking about the respect we owe the public. “Yes,” said M…., “It's a question of prudence. Nobody has a high opinion of fishwives but who would dare offend them while walking through the fish market.””
Reflections
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Nicolas Chamfort 54
French writer 1741–1794Related quotes

Editorial, Hartford Courant (27 August 1897); this remark was reportedly quoted by Mark Twain and it has become often attributed to him, but the context of the statement might indicate the contrary situation
Paraphrased variant: Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.
Variant: Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.
Source: Relatives (1973)., Chapter 8 (p. 135).

Source: Seriously... I'm Kidding

Hansard, 6 ser, vol 308 col 111 (17 March 1998)
From the 1998 Budget speech.
Chancellor of the Exchequer

“Yes, I deserve a spring–I owe nobody nothing.”
Source: A Writer's Diary

“Where public opinion is free and uncontrolled, wealth has a wholesome respect for the law.”
"Fooling the People as a Fine Art", La Follette's Magazine (April 1918)

“He who dares not offend cannot be honest.”
The Forester's Letters http://www.bartleby.com/184/117.html, Letter III—'To Cato', Pennsylvania Journal (24 April 1776)
1770s