Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions. Albert Einstein, cited The New Quotable Einstein
The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error. John Stuart Mill
If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. John Stuart Mill
One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny. Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness, 1930
The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widely spread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible. Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals
The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder’s lack of rational conviction. Opinions in politics and religion are almost always held passionately. Bertrand Russell
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric. Bertrand Russell
Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard. Robert H Jackson, West Virginia State Board of Education v Barnette 319 US 624 (1943) at 641
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel
The power of a bold idea uttered publicly in defiance of dominant opinion cannot be easily measured. Those special people who speak out in such a way as to shake up not only the self-assurance of their enemies, but the complacency of their friends, are precious catalysts for change. Howard Zinn, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times
I have always strenuously supported the Right of every Man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it. Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason, 1793
It is never to be expected in a revolution that every man is to change his opinion at the same moment. There never yet was any truth or any principle so irresistibly obvious that all men believed it at once. Time and reason must cooperate with each other to the final establishment of any principle; and therefore those who may happen to be first convinced have not a right to persecute others, on whom conviction operates more slowly. The moral principle of revolutions is to instruct, not to destroy. Thomas Paine, First Principles of Government, 1795
The three main elements of public relations are practically as old as society: informing people, persuading people, or integrating people with people. Of course, the means and methods of accomplishing these ends have changed as society has changed. Edward Bernays, Crystallizing Public Opinion, 1923
This is an age of mass production. In the mass production of materials a broad technique has been developed and applied to their distribution. In this age, too, there must be a technique for the mass distribution of ideas. Edward Bernays, Manipulating Public Opinion
The very purpose of existence is to reconcile the glowing opinion we hold of ourselves with the appalling things that other people think about us. Quentin Crisp
Opinions are made to be changed – or how is truth to be got at? Lord Byron
People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum. Noam Chomsky, The Common Good
The Poll I mentioned in Iraq where 1% agreed with the US columnists and commentators that the US entered Iraq to preserve democracy. Noam Chomsky, Merrimack College, The Onslaught Against Freedom and Democracy Led by the Bush Administration Reactionaries
Vietnam, 1990, 71%: The public say not ‘a mistake’ but ‘fundamentally wrong and immoral’. Noam Chomsky, lecture 1992, ‘Deterring Democracy’
The US supports dictatorship and blocks democracy and development … George W Bush’s plaintive plea that they hate our freedoms, and they [NSC] concluded that no, they don’t hate our freedoms, they hate our policies and with good reason, the same reason they did in the 1950s. Noam Chomsky lecture Rickman Godlee Lecture 2011, ‘Contours of Global Order’, Youtube 1.39.23
What their [Muslims] opinions are – the United States supports brutal and corrupt regimes which block democracy and modernisation and development. Noam Chomsky, ‘On Power, Dissent & Racism’, Youtube 59.53
There are as many opinions as there are experts. Franklin D Roosevelt
The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion. Arnold H Glasow
My own opinion is enough for me, and I claim the right to have it defended against any consensus, any majority, anywhere, any place, any time. And anyone who disagrees with this can pick a number, get in line, and kiss my ass. Christopher Hitchens
Opinion polling has now become a mockery of itself. It’s all designed to make people think they count. Christopher Hitchens
In the realm of diagnosis and treatment there is ample scope for genuine difference of opinion, and one man clearly is not negligent merely because his conclusion differs from that of other professional men, nor because he has displayed less skill or knowledge than others would have done. The true test for establishing negligence in diagnosis or treatment on the part of a doctor is whether he has been proved to be guilty of such failure as no doctor of ordinary skill would be guilty of it acting with ordinary care. McNair J, Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee [1957] 2 All ER 118
Let us now look at the inconsistent opinions of these heretics ... how they do not agree when discussing the same points, but across the board, in things and names, they set forth opinions that are mutually discordant. Irenaeus, AD 183-186, Against Heresies 1:11:1
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it. Sinclair Lewis, 1935
There are as many opinions as they are people: each has his own correct way. Terence, Phormio
It is the absolute right of the State to supervise the formation of public opinion. Joseph Goebbels
New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common. John Locke, An Essay concerning Human Understanding, 1690
When people feel deeply, impartiality is bias. Lord Reith, Into the Wind, 1949
A man can brave opinion, a woman must submit to it. Mme de Stael, Delphine, 1802
And don’t consult anyone’s opinions but your own. Persius, Satires I i 7
To accept opinions is to gain the good solid feeling of being correct without having to think. C Wright Mills, The Power Elite
How can you exist in this world ignorant of the opinions and the writings and the thoughts of everyone else even your enemy? Bill Cooper, Hour of Our Time radio broadcast