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Respecting public opinion

One should 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, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways.

Bertrand Russell: The Conquest of Happiness.
Reissued edition of 1996, page 107.

What if this actually were public opinion? Or is it? Respect respect. I do not know whether I would want my opinion to become public. Or, as Bertrand Russell is quoted:

I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 11th, 2006 at 18:23 on rattus rattus' blog and is filed under No liars, Quotes. Responses are currently closed.
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2 Responses to “Respecting public opinion”

  1. eb says:
    August 12th, 2006 at 0:55

    That`s exactly why I check my beliefs by tasting coffee sometimes. And I trust I´d rather die for my conviction that a coffee tastes right than my beliefs are.

  2. rattus says:
    August 12th, 2006 at 15:15

    Fine, let’s have another coffee then :-)
    Besides that I have just posted one more quote about public opinion.