This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
The teachings of economics say that anything in oversupply has no value; and one of the greatest things in oversupply has always been the simple opinion shared by others.
Philippa Foot, fully Philippa Ruth Foot, née Bosanquet
One of the things a wise man knows and a foolish man does not is that such things as social position, wealth, and the good opinion of the world, are too dearly bought at the cost of health or friendship or family ties.
Cost | Family | Good | Health | Man | Opinion | Position | Wealth | Wise | World | Friendship |
There is but one rule of conduct for a man - to do the right thing. The cost may be dear in money, in friends, in influence, in labor, in a prolonged and painful sacrifice, but the cost not to do right is far more dear: You pay in the integrity of your manhood, in your honor, in strength of character; and, for a timely gain, you barter the infinite.
Character | Conduct | Cost | Honor | Influence | Integrity | Labor | Man | Money | Right | Rule | Sacrifice | Strength |
Adrienne Rich, fully Adrienne Cecil Rich
[Responsibility to yourself] means that you refuse to sell your talents and aspirations short, simply to avoid conflict and confrontation. And this, in turn, means resisting the forces in society which say that women should be nice, play safe, have low professional expectations, drown in love and forget about work, live through others, and stay in places assigned to us. It means that we insist on a life of meaningful work, insist that work be as meaningful as love and friendship in our lives. It means, therefore, the courage to be “different”; not to be continuously available to others when we need time for ourselves and our work; to be able to demand of others – parents, friends, roommates, teachers, lovers, husbands, children – that they respect our sense of purpose and our integrity as persons.
Children | Courage | Integrity | Life | Life | Love | Means | Need | Parents | Play | Purpose | Purpose | Respect | Responsibility | Safe | Sense | Society | Time | Work | Friendship | Society | Respect |
A prejudice is a vagrant opinion without visible means of support.
Six things are requisite to create a "happy home." Integrity must be the architect, and tidiness the upholsterer. It must be warmed by affection, lighted up with cheerfulness, and industry must be the ventilator, renewing the atmosphere and bringing in fresh salubrity day by day; while over all, as a protecting canopy and glory, nothing will suffice except the blessing of God.
Cheerfulness | Day | Glory | God | Happy | Industry | Integrity | Nothing | Tidiness | Will |
The primary objects of desire and of thought are the same. For the apparent good is the object of appetite, and the real good is the primary object of rational wish. But desire is consequent of opinion rather than opinion on desire; for the thinking is the starting-point.
Appetite | Desire | Good | Object | Opinion | Thinking | Thought | Thought |
Those who desire honor from good men, and men who know, are aiming at confirming their own opinion of themselves; they delight in honor, therefore, because they believe in their own goodness on the strength of the judgment of those who speak about them.
Desire | Good | Honor | Judgment | Men | Opinion | Strength |
Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who has a low opinion of himself.
I have accustomed myself to receive with respect the opinion of others but always take the responsibility of deciding for myself.
Opinion | Receive | Respect | Responsibility | Respect |
The states of virtue by which the soul possesses truth by way of affirmation or denial are five in number, i.e., art, scientific knowledge, practical wisdom, philosophical wisdom, intuitive wisdom: we do not included judgment and opinion because in these we may be mistaken.
Art | Judgment | Knowledge | Opinion | Soul | Truth | Virtue | Virtue | Wisdom |
If you want to discover your true opinion of anybody, observe the impression made on you by the first sight of a letter from him.
Impression | Opinion |
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield
A man’s fate is his own temper; and according to that will be his opinion as to the particular manner in which the course of events is regulated. A consistent man believes in destiny, an capricious man in chance.
Chance | Destiny | Events | Fate | Man | Opinion | Temper | Will | Fate |
Bertrand Russell, fully Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell
The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence that it is not utterly absurd; indeed, in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.
The majority is the best way, because it is visible and has strength to make itself obeyed. Yet it is the opinion of the least able.
Bertrand Russell, fully Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell
One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.
Opinion | Prison | Public | Respect | Submission | Tyranny | Respect |
Force rules the world - not opinion; but opinion which makes use of force.