--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Opinions are a private matter. The public…" description: "\"Opinions are a private matter. The public has an interest only in judgments.\" — Walter Benjamin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/362/walter-benjamin-1723_interest_opinions-are-a-private-matter-the-public_1945774.jpg" --- # Opinions are a private matter. The public has an interest… ![“Opinions are a private matter. The public has an interest only in judgments.” quote by Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/362/walter-benjamin-1723_interest_opinions-are-a-private-matter-the-public_1945774.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/362/walter-benjamin-1723_interest_opinions-are-a-private-matter-the-public_1945774.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/362/walter-benjamin-1723_interest_opinions-are-a-private-matter-the-public_1945774.jpg) > “Opinions are a private matter. The public has an interest only in judgments.” [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Public judgment matters more than private opinion; society cares about actions, not thoughts. **In simple terms:** Society values actions over private thoughts. Key Takeaway Focus on deeds, not just opinions. Themes privacy public judgment society ethics Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - legal decisions - media commentary - political discourse Key Concepts philosophy social contract Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance personal belief with public expectation? - When should private opinions stay private? A Different Perspective Public interest can suppress individual freedom of thought. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Judgments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgments/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Opinions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinions/) [Opinions Private](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinions-private-2937259/) [Private Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-matter-962939/) [Public Judgments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-judgments-3127684/) ## Related quotes > [Being English, we're polite and reserved, we don't express our opinions; we're very private people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wilson/being-english-we-re-polite-and-reserved-we-don-t-express-our-opinions/) [Steven Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wilson/) > [We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove. We have two opinions: one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/we-are-discreet-sheep-we-wait-to-see-how-the-drove-is-going-and-then-2/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Education is a private matter between the person and the world of knowledge and experience, and has little to do with school or college.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-smith/education-is-a-private-matter-between-the-person-and-the-world-of/) [Lillian Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-smith/) > [“Marzipan's a private matter!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-mortimer/marzipan-s-a-private-matter/) [Bob Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-mortimer/) > [My best feature is unfortunately a private matter, although I'm told it is spectacular. 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The work is a private matter for the artist.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-please-everyone-contrary-to-the-work-of-art-which/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [The act of creation, as you very well know, is a lonely and private matter and has nothing to do with the public area...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/the-act-of-creation-as-you-very-well-know-is-a-lonely-and-private/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [Nutrition is not a private matter!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah/nutrition-is-not-a-private-matter/) [Jonah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah/) > [Aesthetic judgments, rather than abstract reasoning, guide and shape the process by which we all come to know what we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-tammet/aesthetic-judgments-rather-than-abstract-reasoning-guide-and-shape/) [Daniel Tammet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-tammet/) > [We have to make judgments on the individual players and we're not always going to be right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-depodesta/we-have-to-make-judgments-on-the-individual-players-and-we-re-not/) [Paul DePodesta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-depodesta/) ## More by Walter Benjamin > [All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-efforts-to-render-politics-aesthetic-culminate-in-one-thing-war/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [“The construction of life is at present in the power of facts far more than of convictions, and of such facts as have scarcely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/the-construction-of-life-is-at-present-in-the-power-of-facts-far-more/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [“It should be pointed out that certain correlative concepts retain their meaning, and possibly their foremost significance, if they are referred exclusively to man.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/it-should-be-pointed-out-that-certain-correlative-concepts-retain/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Allegories are, in the realm of thought, what ruins are in the realm of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/allegories-are-in-the-realm-of-thought-what-ruins-are-in-the-realm-of/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Things are only mannequins and even the great world-historical events are only costumes beneath which they exchange glances with nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/things-are-only-mannequins-and-even-the-great-world-historical-events/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [“to great writers, finished works weigh lighter than those fragments on which they labor their entire lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/to-great-writers-finished-works-weigh-lighter-than-those-fragments-on/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [All religions have honored the beggar. 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Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [It is the interest of the commercial world that wealth should be found everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/it-is-the-interest-of-the-commercial-world-that-wealth-should-be/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [The minimum that most minimalists want leaves in place just the institutions who protect their interests. That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/the-minimum-that-most-minimalists-want-leaves-in-place-just-the/) [Kim Stanley Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley-robinson/) > [Susan B. 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But I could identify with giving up my child if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drea-de-matteo/i-could-not-identify-with-harming-my-child-or-giving-up-my-child-but/) [Drea De Matteo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drea-de-matteo/) > [Human life consists of doing certain things ... to take part in the life of the community; to be able to talk about subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/human-life-consists-of-doing-certain-things-to-take-part-in-the-life/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [I think another thing is that we don't really want exclusivity. We accept that it is in the artist's interest to be on sale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-gabriel/i-think-another-thing-is-that-we-don-t-really-want-exclusivity-we/) [Peter Gabriel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-gabriel/) > [My dream is to play ordinary characters. 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