Quotes about opinion
page 27

Winston S. Churchill photo

“It may be said, therefore, that the military opinion of the world is opposed to those people who cry 'Democratize the army!'”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

and it must be remembered that an army is not a field upon which persons with Utopian ideas may exercise their political theories, but a weapon for the defence of the State.
British Cavalry, The Anglo-Saxon Review, March 1901.
Reproduced in The Collected Essays of Sir Winston Churchill, Vol I, Churchill at War, Centenary Edition (1976), Library of Imperial History, p. 60. ISBN 0903988429
Early career years (1898–1929)

Cry , World , People

“Marriage is one of those things where people can have different opinions and it has to be decided at the ballot box and not through the courts. It's about who gets to decide not what should be decided.”

John J. Bursch (1972) American politician

Same-sex marriage case in court: Attorney John Bursch https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/23/sex-marriage-case-court-attorney-john-bursch/26277577/ (April 23, 2015)

Marriage , Box , People
Tom Van Grieken photo

“I hope leftist teachers have stepped on their toes. I have a fundamental problem with teachers trying to impose their opinion. A teacher must be neutral.”

Tom Van Grieken (1986) Belgian politician

Fuss about TikTok video Tom Van Grieken (Vlaams Belang): "In 2024 we will present a bill to left-wing teachers". https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2021/09/01/ophef-over-tiktok-filmpje-tom-van-grieken/

Hope , Teachers , Problem
Clemens August Graf von Galen photo

“These unfortunate patients must die but rather because, in the opinion of some department, on the testimony of some commission, they have become 'worthless life' because according to this testimony they are 'unproductive national comrades.'”

Clemens August Graf von Galen (1878–1946) German count, Bishop of Münster, and cardinal, important figure in Catholic resistance to Nazism

The argument goes: they can no longer produce commodities, they are like an old machine that no longer works, they are like an old horse which has become incurably lame, they are like a cow which no longer gives milk.
Speech against Nazi euthanasia (August 3, 1941)

Life
Democritus photo

“Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is just opinion.”

Democritus Ancient Greek philosopher, pupil of Leucippus, founder of the atomic theory
Salah Al Budair photo

“Do not be quick in giving fatwa (religious verdict) but exercise restraint in managing your differences of opinions. Such differences shouldn’t be vehicle for the spread of hatred and disunity among the people.”

Salah Al Budair (1971) Imaam at Masjid al-Nabawi

Spilling of innocent blood is against Islam – Saudi Imam https://www.pressreader.com/nigeria/daily-trust/20160330/281616714503807 (30th Mar 2016)

People , Exercises

“When a person was so consistently wrong, it was time to give up having opinions.”

Charles Sheffield book Convergence

Source: The Heritage Universe, Convergence (1997), Chapter 23 (p. 488)

Time , Personality
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo

“My belief is that, the mystics will never be happy nor sad because I took their side. Indeed, this is the right path that does not allow any type of fanaticism to penetrate the mind. In my noble opinion, these are the wisest human beings ever to exist.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author
Happiness , Sadness
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo

“I've been frequently told that I'm worth more than what I thought. But I still don't see any difference in their opinions.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author
Samuel Butler photo

“Ideas and opinions, like living organisms, have a normal rate of growth which cannot be either checked or forced beyond a certain point. They can be held in check more safely than they can be hurried. They can also be killed; and one of the surest ways to kill them is to try to hurry them.”

Samuel Butler (1835–1902) novelist

The Art of Propagating Opinion
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part X - The Position of a HomoUnius Libri

Idea , Way
Jonathan Van Ness photo

“We are all a beautiful jumble of layers, parts, and mixtures of experiences, but my most important part, and in my opinion everyone's most valuable part, is the one that chooses self-love instead of self-harm in the grand sweeping ways but also the little ways every single day.”

Jonathan Van Ness (1987) American hairstylist and television personality

page 262
Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love (2019)

Beauty , Way , Love , Parting
Joshua Greene photo

“Utilitarianism is a great idea with an awful name. It is, in my opinion, the most underrated and misunderstood idea in all of moral and political philosophy.”

Joshua Greene (1974) American psychologist

Joshua Greene, Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them (2013), p. 106

Idea
Thomas Hobbes photo

“The source of every Crime, is some defect of the Understanding; or some error in Reasoning, or some sudden force of the Passions. Defect in the Understanding, is Ignorance; in Reasoning, Erroneous Opinion.”

Thomas Hobbes book Leviathan

The Second Part, Chapter 27, p. 152
Leviathan (1651)

Understanding , Passion , Error
Henry Kissinger photo

“We are the ones who have been operating against our public opinion, against our bureaucracy, at the very edge of legality.”

Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) United States Secretary of State

Kissinger to Nixon, quoted in Bass, G. J. (2014). The Blood telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a forgotten genocide.
Source: FRUS: Documents on South Asia, 1969–1972, vol. E-7 (online at http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve07), White House tapes, Oval Office 637-3, 12 December 1971, 8:45–9:42 a.m. Hereafter cited as FRUS, vol. E-7. quoted in Bass, G. J. (2014). The Blood telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a forgotten genocide.

Yingluck Shinawatra photo

“The resumption of peace means all sides must grant forgiveness – without bias or emotion – and be open-minded to allow the airing of dissenting opinions. I understand this is difficult to do, but we have to put the greater good before personal interest.”

Yingluck Shinawatra (1967) Thai businesswoman and politician

"Speech on the Amnesty bill" https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/30218796 (5 November 2013)

Personality , Forgiveness , Peace , Understanding
Napoleon Hill photo

“Most people are too indifferent or lazy to acquire facts with which to think accurately. They prefer to act on "opinions" created by guesswork or snap-judgments.”

Napoleon Hill book Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich (1938) p.88

Indifference , People , Thinking
Napoleon Hill photo

“The person with a "closed" mind on any subject seldom gets ahead. Intolerance means that one has stopped acquiring knowledge. The most damaging forms of intolerance are those connected with religious, racial, and political differences of opinion.”

Napoleon Hill book Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich (1938) p.88

Personality , Knowledge
Pierre Emmanuel Félix Chazal photo

“A Prince must not speak the language of the tribunes and proclaim absolute principles in terms which are likely to deeply offend those who are of another opinion than his own.”

Pierre Emmanuel Félix Chazal (1808–1892) Belgian politician (1808-1892)

Source: All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 5. A prospectus by the military Chazal and Brialmont, The Importance of General Chazal in Colonial Politics. http://www.ethesis.net/leopold_II/leopold_II.htm#2.%20 KMLKG, Papiers Chazal, 65/1, Chazal aan de hertog van Brabant, 28 juni 1859.

Bill Maher photo

“There isn’t just one true opinion. I’m a free speech guy. Now, I’m Team Dave Chappelle, but that doesn’t mean I’m anti-trans. We can have two thoughts in our head at the same time.”

Bill Maher (1956) American stand-up comedian

Source: New Rule: Andrew Yang & John McWhorter on Dave Chappelle and 'Transphobia' (2021)

Time , Guy
Leopold II of Belgium photo

“A Prince must not speak the language of the tribunes and proclaim absolute principles in terms which are likely to deeply offend those who are of another opinion than his own.”

Leopold II of Belgium (1835–1909) King of the Belgians

Source: All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 5. A prospectus by the military Chazal and Brialmont, The Importance of General Chazal in Colonial Politics. http://www.ethesis.net/leopold_II/leopold_II.htm#2.%20 KMLKG, Papiers Chazal, 65/1, Chazal aan de hertog van Brabant, 28 juni 1859.

Jiang Qing photo

“I feel very sorry that for a very long time I have not had hearings of opinions of comrades. I can well understand it if comrades should have some opinion against us; for comrades know about our conditions.”

Jiang Qing (1914–1991) Chinese political figure and wife of Mao Zedong

Source: Talk at the Peking Forum on Literature and Art (9 and 12 November 1967)

Time , Understanding , Feeling

“People who live in totalitarian countries experience educational brainwashing and real fear of the government. They are not brave enough to stand out and express different opinions.”

Rebel Pepper (1973) Chinese political cartoonist

"Rebel with a cause: An interview with China’s most famous political cartoonist" in SAGE Journals https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0306422016657031a (29 June 2016)

Country , People , Education , Fear
Tania Raymonde photo

“I think I always try to go in with a very objective perspective at first. Inevitably, when playing someone like her, after a while you tend to really sympathize with her. It was very hard for me to divorce myself from that opinion.”

Tania Raymonde (1988) American actress

Source: Tania Raymonde: The Jodi Arias Trial ‘Unfolding In Real Time’ While FilmingLifetime Movie Was A ‘Trip’ https://hollywoodlife.com/2020/08/08/jodi-arias-lifetime-movie-tania-raymonde-interview/ (August 8, 2020)

Thinking
Katherine Maher photo

“In my experience, it is perfectly possible to have opinions and also produce valuable, fact-based information for the world.”

Katherine Maher (1983) chief executive officer and executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation

Source: Twitter https://twitter.com/krmaher/status/1353456809424547840, (24 January 2021)

World
Simisola Kosoko photo

“Always take care of yourself, of your spirit, be true to yourself, build a very thick skin where you understand that your value is outside of people’s opinions about you, and you’ll be okay.”

Simisola Kosoko (1988) Nigerian singer and songwriter

Source: https://notjustok.com/article/interviews/simi-in-conversation-with-notjustok-for-womens-history-month/ Simi on an interview during Women History Month

Understanding , People
Angelo Vulpini photo

“Freedom does not exist partially, if I don't have the freedom of opinion or expression regarding whoever, then there's certainly no actual freedom”

Angelo Vulpini (2003) Venezuelan recording artist

Source: Posted on @angelovulpini, Instagram (June 3, 2019)

Freedom
Nassim Nicholas Taleb photo

“If your private life conflicts with your intellectual opinion, it cancels your intellectual ideas, not your private life.”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb book Skin in the Game

Source: Skin in the Game (2018), p. 185

Idea , Life
Alfred Austin photo

“Public opinion is no more than this,
What people think that other people think.”

Alfred Austin (1835–1913) British writer and poet

Prince Lucifer (1887), Lucifer in Act VI, sc. ii; p. 189.

Thinking , People
Alexander De Croo photo

“Freedom of expression is one of the foundations of our society. Everyone is free to express their opinion. But our society will never accept indiscriminate violence, and even less towards our police forces.”

Alexander De Croo (1975) Belgian politician

Source: Alexander De Croo (2022) cited in: " Clashes as tens of thousands protest Covid rules in Belgium https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2022/01/24/clashes-as-tens-of-thousands-protest-covid-rules-in-belgium/2037074" in Malay Mail, 24 January 2022.

Freedom
John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton photo

“A time came when the Catholics, having long relied on force, were compelled to appeal to opinion. That which had been defiantly acknowledged and defended required to be ingeniously explained away. The same motive which had justified the murder now prompted the lie. Men shrank from the conviction that the rulers and restorers of their Church had been murderers and abetters of murder, and that so much infamy had been coupled with so much zeal. They feared to say that the most monstrous of crimes had been solemnly approved at Rome, lest they should devote the Papacy to the execration of mankind. A swarm of facts were invented to meet the difficulty: The victims were insignificant in number; they were slain for no reason connected with religion; the Pope believed in the existence of the plot; the plot was a reality; the medal is fictitious; the massacre was a feint concerted with the Protestants themselves; the Pope rejoiced only when he heard that it was over. These things were repeated so often that they have been sometimes believed; and men have fallen into this way of speaking whose sincerity was unimpeachable, and who were not shaken in their religion by the errors or the vices of Popes. Möhler was pre-eminently such a man. In his lectures on the history of the Church, which were published only last year, he said that the Catholics, as such, took no part in the massacre; that no cardinal, bishop, or priest shared in the councils that prepared it; that Charles informed the Pope that a conspiracy had been discovered; and that Gregory made his thanksgiving only because the King's life was saved. Such things will cease to be written when men perceive that truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history.”

John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton (1834–1902) British politician and historian

Source: 1860s, The Massacre Of St. Bartholomew (1869)

Sincerity , Life , Men , Truth
Ricardo Ezzati photo

“My opinion is that the best law is an education of quality, that begins in the family, grows at school and finds in society a stimulus for the formation of people. We are greatly lacking in civic friendship, we look at one another as mad people and not as brethren or as people who share the same ideal, the same purpose.”

Ricardo Ezzati (1942) archbishop and cardinal

Source: Chile – Cardinal Ezzati: Reparation Eucharist https://www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/1167-chile-cardinal-ezzati-reparation-eucharist-at-gratitud-nacionain-this-l (13 June 2016)

Friendship , People , Education , Madness
John Bercow photo

“They are entitled to their opinion, but they suffer from the notable disadvantage of being completely wrong.”

John Bercow (1963) British politician and Speaker of the House of Commons (born 1963)

Addressing the House of Commons shortly after announcing his resignation as speaker
2019
Source: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/john-bercow-s-seething-contempt-for-brexiteers

Suffering
Ron English photo

“The opinions of others are articulated by my inner voice.”

Ron English (1959) American artist

Ron English's Fauxlosophy: Volume 2 (2022)

Thomas Jefferson photo

“Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

1800s, First Inaugural Address (1801)

Walt Disney photo

“Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my opinion, no matter where it is exercised. Usually it implies some risk — especially in new undertakings. Courage to initiate something and to keep it going, pioneering an adventurous spirit to blaze new ways, often, in our land of opportunity.”

Walt Disney (1901–1966) American film producer and businessman

As quoted in The Magic of Teamwork (1997) by Pat Williams
Year unknown, published in 1990s

Courage , Exercises , Way

“In this tragedy I would like to underline a beautiful thing, in my opinion, and that is the Uganda's capacity to welcome.”

Giuseppe Franzelli (1942) Italian priest

The Vatican News interview with the Bishop of Lira, Msgr. Franzelli. https://www.africamission.org/en/news/l'intervista-di-vatican-news-al-vescovo-di-lira-mons-franzelli.html (26 June 2018)

Beauty
Errico Malatesta photo

“It is therefore necessary to state what are the means which in our opinion lead to our desired ends, and which we propose to adopt.”

Errico Malatesta (1853–1932) Italian anarchist

An Anarchist Programme (1920)

Will Rogers photo

“When you meet people, no matter what opinion you might have formed about them beforehand, why, after you meet them and see their angle and their personality, why, you can see a lot of good in all of them.”

Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist and entertainer

On Leon Trotsky Saturday Evening Post (6 November 1926) - note that Rogers specifically spelled the word "dident"
Context: I bet you if I had met him and had a chat with him, I would have found him a very interesting and human fellow, for I never yet met a man that I dident like. When you meet people, no matter what opinion you might have formed about them beforehand, why, after you meet them and see their angle and their personality, why, you can see a lot of good in all of them.

Personality , People
Jonas Salk photo

“Why do I see things differently from the way other people see them? Why do I pursue the questions that I pursue, even if others regard them as, as they say, "controversial?" Which merely means that they have a difference of opinion. They see things differently. I am interested both in nature, and in the human side of nature, and how the two can be brought together, and effectively used.”

Jonas Salk (1914–1995) Inventor of polio vaccine

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)

People , Way , Question , Nature

“In my opinion, besides science, language and mathematics, perhaps tolerance is the most important thing that should be taught in schools nowadays.”

Titon Rahmawan
School , Mathematics , Science

“The freedoms that we glorify, however, still have clear boundaries as long as they don't infringe on the rights of others or encroach on the next-door neighbor's yard. You can't just cuss or demonize others because you feel your right to voice and opinion is guaranteed by law.”

Titon Rahmawan
Freedom , Law , Feeling

“We may easily criticize or revile the policies of those in power just because we feel that their policies are not in line with our principles. However, we should not build public opinion without considering why the policy was made, for whom and how the policy process was made. Does the policy fulfill the principles and sense of justice? We should be able to see the greater interest rather than only seeing from the side of personal gain, groups or a handful of people.”

Titon Rahmawan
Personality , People , Justice , Sense

“Only those who realize their own capacities and qualities are not affected by the opinions of others. Be careful, because those who praise are not entirely sincere. Those who criticize are mostly out of envy, jealousy and malice.”

Titon Rahmawan
Sincerity , Envy , Jealousy

“In love, we can find many differences. It is not always in line, sometimes not on the same page, often with different views and contradictory opinions. But in the integrity of true love, we can always accept these differences. True love will never lose empathy, care, concern and compassion.”

Titon Rahmawan
Love

“Being happy sometimes requires us to take a steep path. An unpleasant and even unpopular path. Our rejection and disregard for other people's opinions is sometimes necessary to make ourselves happier. We can't always be the ego graters of others.”

Titon Rahmawan
Happiness , People

“Opinions and criticism can influence and even make a difference when delivered in a good way and at the right time. He just needs to know how to put himself and others in his place.”

Titon Rahmawan
Time , Way

“Is it just me or does anyone else think, that the courage to speak up and express opinions should be accompanied by manners and etiquette?”

Titon Rahmawan
Courage , Thinking

“We are too often influenced by other people's opinions. We worry too much about what others think of us. We feel called to satisfy other people's expectations, when we know that's definitely not the kind of life we want to live.”

Titon Rahmawan
People , Thinking , Life , Feeling
Prevale photo

“In life it's essential that ideas, choises and actions are always done your way. To act according to the opinion of others would be to err twice.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Nella vita è essenziale che idee, scelte ed azioni siano sempre compiute a modo tuo. Agire secondo l'opinione degli altri significherebbe sbagliare due volte.
Source: prevale.net

Way , Idea , Life
Prevale photo

“In love, if it was useful to express one's opinion, they would not let us do so.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: In amore, se fosse utile esprimere la propria opinione, non ce lo lascerebbero fare.
Source: prevale.net

Love