--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Power rules the world, not opinion, but…" description: "\"“Power rules the world, not opinion, but it is opinion that exploits power. It is power that makes opinion. To be easygoing can be a fine thing accordi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/blaise-pascal-167_opinion_power-rules-the-world-not-opinion-but-it_2529234.jpg" --- # Power rules the world, not opinion, but it is opinion that… ![“Power rules the world, not opinion, but it is opinion that exploits power. It is power that makes opinion. To be easygoing can be a fine thing according to our opinion. Why? Because anyone who wants to dance the tightrope will be alone, and I can get together a stronger body of people to say there…” quote by Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/blaise-pascal-167_opinion_power-rules-the-world-not-opinion-but-it_2529234.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/blaise-pascal-167_opinion_power-rules-the-world-not-opinion-but-it_2529234.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/blaise-pascal-167_opinion_power-rules-the-world-not-opinion-but-it_2529234.jpg) > ““Power rules the world, not opinion, but it is opinion that exploits power. It is power that makes opinion. To be easygoing can be a fine thing according to our opinion. Why? Because anyone who wants to dance the tightrope will be alone, and I can get together a stronger body of people to say there is nothing fine about it.”” [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Power shapes reality while opinion can manipulate power; both influence each other in complex ways. **In simple terms:** Power and opinion affect each other. Key Takeaway Recognize how influence works. Themes power opinion influence society Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - political campaigns - media messaging - organizational leadership - personal relationships Key Concepts political theory psychology social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How does power shape opinion? - When can opinion overturn power? A Different Perspective Power can be limited by structural constraints and dissent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) ## Related quotes > [people can be creul,people can be mean, what they say about us is not true it makes it there opinion, and it doesnt mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/people-can-be-creul-people-can-be-mean-what-they-say-about-us-is-not/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [If a man achieves victory over this body, who in the world can exercise power over him? He who rules himself rules over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vinoba-bhave/if-a-man-achieves-victory-over-this-body-who-in-the-world-can/) [Vinoba Bhave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vinoba-bhave/) > [“bitch power is the juice, the sweat, the blood that keeps pop music going. Rick James helped me understand the lesson of the eighth-grade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/bitch-power-is-the-juice-the-sweat-the-blood-that-keeps-pop-music/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [Force rules the world, and not opinion; but opinion is that which makes use of force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/force-rules-the-world-and-not-opinion-but-opinion-is-that-which-makes/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Force rules the world-not opinion; but it is opinion that makes use of force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/force-rules-the-world-not-opinion-but-it-is-opinion-that-makes-use-of/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Force and not opinion is the queen of the world; but it is opinion that uses the force. \[Fr., La force est la reine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/force-and-not-opinion-is-the-queen-of-the-world-but-it-is-opinion/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The United Nations continues to sense as the forum where nations whose interests clash may lay their cases before world opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haile-selassie/the-united-nations-continues-to-sense-as-the-forum-where-nations/) [Haile Selassie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haile-selassie/) > [In this world the only opinion that holds court is prejudice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/in-this-world-the-only-opinion-that-holds-court-is-prejudice/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [Moral authority has been laid to rest, world opinion is no more than a game show and the difference between good and evil is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-steadman/moral-authority-has-been-laid-to-rest-world-opinion-is-no-more-than-a/) [Ralph Steadman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-steadman/) > [One must either accept some theory or else believe one's own instinct or follow the world's opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/one-must-either-accept-some-theory-or-else-believe-one-s-own-instinct/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [The mobilization of world opinion and methods of negotiation should be developed and used by every nation in order to strengthen the United Nations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/the-mobilization-of-world-opinion-and-methods-of-negotiation-should/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [“World opinion”—that vapid, amoral concept— deems the murder of members of one’s group less noteworthy than the murder of outsiders. That is one reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/world-opinion-that-vapid-amoral-concept-deems-the-murder-of-members/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [Globalisation means many things. At one level, it talks of trade, which since the 16th century has exchanged goods and now, increasingly, ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/globalisation-means-many-things-at-one-level-it-talks-of-trade-which/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [“But you said you no longer care for the world's opinion," I said to him, "nor will I.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-martin/but-you-said-you-no-longer-care-for-the-world-s-opinion-i-said-to-him/) [Valerie Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-martin/) > [“The more honest you were with yourself, the less you had to worry about the world's opinion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-brewer-sutton-laura-lippman/the-more-honest-you-were-with-yourself-the-less-you-had-to-worry/) Linda Brewer-Sutton Laura Lippman ## More by Blaise Pascal > [“Do they think that they have given us great pleasure by telling us that they hold our soul to be no more than wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/do-they-think-that-they-have-given-us-great-pleasure-by-telling-us/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [There should be in eloquence that which is pleasing and that which is real; but that which is pleasing should itself be real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-should-be-in-eloquence-that-which-is-pleasing-and-that-which-is/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The method of not erring is sought by all the world. The logicians profess to guide it, the geometricians alone attain it, and apart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-method-of-not-erring-is-sought-by-all-the-world-the-logicians/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [When we read too fast or too slowly, we understand nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/when-we-read-too-fast-or-too-slowly-we-understand-nothing/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Mahomet established a religion by putting his enemies to death; Jesus Christ by commanding his followers to lay down their lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/mahomet-established-a-religion-by-putting-his-enemies-to-death-jesus/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Reflect on death as in Jesus Christ, not as without Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ it is dreadful, it is alarming, it is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/reflect-on-death-as-in-jesus-christ-not-as-without-jesus-christ/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The Stoics say, "Retire within yourselves; it is there you will find your rest." And that is not true. Others say, "Go out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-stoics-say-retire-within-yourselves-it-is-there-you-will-find/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Happiness can be found neither in ourselves nor in external things, but in God and in ourselves as united to him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/happiness-can-be-found-neither-in-ourselves-nor-in-external-things/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Amusement that is excessive and followed only for its own sake, allures and deceives us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/amusement-that-is-excessive-and-followed-only-for-its-own-sake/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Rivers are highways that move on and bear us whither we wish to go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/rivers-are-highways-that-move-on-and-bear-us-whither-we-wish-to-go/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [We desire truth, and find within ourselves only uncertainty. 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'It is because you were born in it,' they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-is-no-denying-it-one-must-admit-that-there-is-something/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Imagination is the deceptive part in man, the mistress of error and falsehood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/imagination-is-the-deceptive-part-in-man-the-mistress-of-error-and/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The majority is the best way, because it is visible, and has strength to make itself obeyed. Yet it is the opinion of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-majority-is-the-best-way-because-it-is-visible-and-has-strength/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) [Explore all 988 Blaise Pascal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) ## More Opinion quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [If you want to edit your photos and make yourself look different, go for it. 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