--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The public is wiser than the wisest critic." description: "\"The public is wiser than the wisest critic.\" — George Bancroft" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6b/george-bancroft-20473_critic_the-public-is-wiser-than-the-wisest-crit_2144071.png" --- # The public is wiser than the wisest critic. ![“The public is wiser than the wisest critic.” quote by George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6b/george-bancroft-20473_critic_the-public-is-wiser-than-the-wisest-crit_2144071.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6b/george-bancroft-20473_critic_the-public-is-wiser-than-the-wisest-crit_2144071.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6b/george-bancroft-20473_critic_the-public-is-wiser-than-the-wisest-crit_2144071.png) > “The public is wiser than the wisest critic.” [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Public opinion often outperforms even the most knowledgeable critics. **In simple terms:** The crowd can be smarter than experts. Key Takeaway Listen to the majority when evidence supports it. Themes democracy wisdom critique Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - political polling - market trends - media analysis Key Concepts collective intelligence public discourse Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify the crowd’s wisdom? - When should you trust experts over the majority? A Different Perspective Public opinion can be misled by misinformation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Critic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/critic/) [Public](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public/) [Public Wiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-wiser-4477202/) [Than](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/than/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wiser/) [Wiser Wisest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wiser-wisest-2202579/) [Wisest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisest/) [Wisest Critic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisest-critic-4477203/) ## Related quotes > [Judgment of the people is often wiser than the wisest men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lajos-kossuth/judgment-of-the-people-is-often-wiser-than-the-wisest-men/) [Lajos Kossuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lajos-kossuth/) > [The facile delusions which conceal from us our true situation all amount to this: that we are, or can be, wiser than the wisest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-strauss/the-facile-delusions-which-conceal-from-us-our-true-situation-all/) [Leo Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-strauss/) > [It's said that a wise person learns from his mistakes. 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Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/) > [Mankind is made up of inconsistencies, and no man acts invariably up to his predominant character. The wisest man sometimes acts weakly, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/mankind-is-made-up-of-inconsistencies-and-no-man-acts-invariably-up/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [ We should realize that, if \[Socrates\] demanded that the wisest men should rule, he clearly stressed that he did not mean the learned men;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-should-realize-that-if-socrates-demanded-that-the-wisest-men/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In the world of the Middle East at the moment, the debates are shrill. But ... the wisest voice of all of them may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/in-the-world-of-the-middle-east-at-the-moment-the-debates-are-shrill/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [The praise of a fool is incense to the wisest of us . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/the-praise-of-a-fool-is-incense-to-the-wisest-of-us/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [And he is oft the wisest manWho is not wise at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/and-he-is-oft-the-wisest-manwho-is-not-wise-at-all/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) ## More by George Bancroft > [“The disturbances in the country grew not out of anything republican, but out of slavery, which is a part of the system of hereditary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/the-disturbances-in-the-country-grew-not-out-of-anything-republican/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) > [The measure of progress of civilization is the progress of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/the-measure-of-progress-of-civilization-is-the-progress-of-the-people/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) > [Not in vain has Lincoln lived, for he has helped to make this republic an example of justice, with no caste but the caste…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/not-in-vain-has-lincoln-lived-for-he-has-helped-to-make-this-republic/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) > [Ennui is the desire of activity without the fit means of gratifying the desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/ennui-is-the-desire-of-activity-without-the-fit-means-of-gratifying/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) > [By common consent gray hairs are a crown of glory; the only object of respect that can never excite envy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/by-common-consent-gray-hairs-are-a-crown-of-glory-the-only-object-of/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) > [Style is the gossamer on which the seeds of truth float through the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/style-is-the-gossamer-on-which-the-seeds-of-truth-float-through-the/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) > [Dishonesty is so grasping it would deceive God himself, were it possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/dishonesty-is-so-grasping-it-would-deceive-god-himself-were-it/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) > [The charities of life are scattered everywhere, enameling the vales of human beings as the flowers paint the meadows. 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Herself not knowing how to recover her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/in-1688-england-contracted-to-the-netherlands-the-highest-debt-that/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) > [ It \[Calvinism\] established a religion without a prelate, a government without a king. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/it-calvinism-established-a-religion-without-a-prelate-a-government/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) > [“Palmerston did nothing that will endure; LINCOLN finished a work which all time cannot overthrow. Palmerston”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/palmerston-did-nothing-that-will-endure-lincoln-finished-a-work-which/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) > [Where the people possess no authority, their rights obtain no respect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/where-the-people-possess-no-authority-their-rights-obtain-no-respect/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) [Explore all 30 George Bancroft quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) ## More Critic quotes > [I am absolutely my own biggest critic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lando-norris/i-am-absolutely-my-own-biggest-critic/) [Lando Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lando-norris/) > [Critics are biased, and so are readers. (Indeed, a critic is a bundle of biases held loosely together by a sense of taste.) 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Even in films where people said they liked me, I have disliked myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-akkineni/i-am-my-biggest-critic-even-in-films-where-people-said-they-liked-me/) [Samantha Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-akkineni/) > [“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-composition-of-shakespeare-is-a-forest-in-which-oaks-extend-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The good author is he who contemplates without marked joy or excessive sorrow the adventures of his soul amongst criticisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-good-author-is-he-who-contemplates-without-marked-joy-or/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [If I weren't an actor, I'd either be a teacher or a critic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-haysbert/if-i-weren-t-an-actor-i-d-either-be-a-teacher-or-a-critic/) [Dennis Haysbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-haysbert/) > [When a critic sets himself up as an arbiter of morality, a judge of the matter and not the manner of a work, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/when-a-critic-sets-himself-up-as-an-arbiter-of-morality-a-judge-of/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [I remember the early 1980s, when I first got one of these fabulous film critic jobs. 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