At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation, and prejudice.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Public opinion is often irrational and filled with false beliefs.
- In plain terms
- Public opinion is messy and full of wrong ideas.
- What can you take from it?
- Be wary of assuming public opinion is rational or informed.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How much do you trust public opinion?
- Where do you see misinformation shaping views?
Another view
Public opinion can sometimes reflect collective wisdom despite flaws.
More from Gore Vidal
The theater needs continual reminders that there is nothing more debasing than the work of those who do well what is not worth doing at all.
Permalink to quote #2 The more money an American accumulates the less interesting he himself becomes.
Permalink to quote #4 I am at heart a propagandist, a tremendous hater, a tiresome nag, complacently positive that there is no human problem which could not be solved if people woul…
Permalink to quote #1
Related quotes
What a jolly awakening there will be some few years hence, when the inevitable argument of experience will show us a nation contradicting itself through the vo…
Leonard H. CourtneyLeonard H. Courtney quote #2 ...so unpopular, if he became a funeral director people would stop dying
Lord StratfordLord Stratford quote #3 I think politicians and movie actors and movie executives are similar in more ways than they're different. There is an egocentric quality about both; there is …
Jack ValentiJack Valenti quote #3