You may talk of the tyranny of Nero and Tiberius…

You may talk of the tyranny of Nero and Tiberius ; but the real tyranny is the tyranny of your next-door neighbor… Public opinion is a permeating influence, and it exacts obedience to itself; it requires us to think other men’s thoughts, to speak other men’s words, to follow other men’s habits.

Sourced, Biographical Studies (1907)

Sir Robert Peel

Other Walter Bagehot Quotes

Dullness in matters of government is a good sign, and not a bad one - in particular, dullness in parliamentary government is a test of its excellence, an indication of its success. - View Quote Details on Dullness in matters of government is a good sign, and…
It is good to be without vices, but it is not good to be without temptations. - View Quote Details on It is good to be without vices, but it is…
The great difficulty which history records is not that of the first step, but that of the second step. What is most evident is not the difficulty of getting a fixed law, but getting out of a fixed law; not of cementing (as upon a former occasion I phrased it) a cake of custom, but of breaking the cake of custom; not of making the first preservative habit, but of breaking through it, and reaching something better. - View Quote Details on The great difficulty which history records is not that of…
All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality - the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape. - View Quote Details on All the best stories in the world are but one…
The habit of common and continuous speech is a symptom of mental deficiency. - View Quote Details on The habit of common and continuous speech is a symptom…
Writers, like teeth, are divided into incisors and grinders. - View Quote Details on Writers, like teeth, are divided into incisors and grinders.
Honor sinks where commerce long prevails. - View Quote Details on Honor sinks where commerce long prevails.
The greatest mistake is trying to be more agreeable than you can be. - View Quote Details on The greatest mistake is trying to be more agreeable than…
Nations touch at their summits. - View Quote Details on Nations touch at their summits.
Under a cabinet constitution at a sudden emergency this people can choose a ruler for the occasion. It is quite possible and even likely that he would not be ruler before the occasion. The great qualities, the imperious will, the rapid energy, the eager nature fit for a great crisis are not required — are impediments — in common times. A Lord Liverpool is better in everyday politics than a Chatham — a Louis Philippe far better than a Napoleon. By the structure of the world we want, at the sudden occurrence of a grave tempest, to change the helmsman — to replace the pilot of the calm by the pilot of the storm. - View Quote Details on Under a cabinet constitution at a sudden emergency this people…