Man in the Modern Age (1933)
Context: The 'public' is a phantom, the phantom of an opinion supposed to exist in a vast number of persons who have no effective interrelation and though the opinion is not effectively present in the units. Such an opinion is spoken of as 'public opinion,' a fiction which is appealed to by individuals and by groups as supporting their special views. It is impalpable, illusory, transient; "'tis here, 'tis there, 'tis gone"; a nullity which can nevertheless for a moment endow the multitude with power to uplift or destroy.
“A drainless shower
Of light is poesy; ’tis the supreme of power;
’Tis might half slumb’ring on its own right arm.”
"Sleep and Poetry", st. 11
Poems (1817)
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John Keats 211
English Romantic poet 1795–1821Related quotes
(19th January 1822) Poetic Sketches, No.2
The London Literary Gazette, 1821-1822
Source: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Book): Mønti Pythøn Ik Den Hølie Gräilen
“Tis the first art of kings, the power to suffer hate.”
ars prima regni est posse invidiam pati.
Hercules Furens (The Madness of Hercules), lines 353; (Lycus)
Alternate translation: To be able to endure odium is the first art to be learned by those who aspire to power (translator unknown).
Tragedies
2011, Address on the natural and nuclear energy disasters in Japan (March 2011)