---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Thea was still under the belief that…"
description: "\"Thea was still under the belief that public opinion could be placated; that if you clucked often enough, the hens would mistake you for one of themselv..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/willa-cather-634_adaptability_thea-was-still-under-the-belief-that-pub_127107.png"
---

#  Thea was still under the belief that public opinion could…

![“Thea was still under the belief that public opinion could be placated; that if you clucked often enough, the hens would mistake you for one of themselves.” quote by Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/willa-cather-634_adaptability_thea-was-still-under-the-belief-that-pub_127107.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/willa-cather-634_adaptability_thea-was-still-under-the-belief-that-pub_127107.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/willa-cather-634_adaptability_thea-was-still-under-the-belief-that-pub_127107.png)

> “Thea was still under the belief that public opinion could be placated; that if you clucked often enough, the hens would mistake you for one of themselves.”

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The belief that public opinion can be easily swayed is naïve; true influence requires genuine connection.

**In simple terms:** Public opinion isn’t easily manipulated.

Key Takeaway

Seek authentic engagement.

Themes

public opinion influence naïveté communication authenticity

Mood

skeptical thoughtful

Type

critical philosophical

When to use this quote

- political campaigns
- marketing
- community organizing

Key Concepts

political science psychology

Practical Applications

- listen to constituents
- build trust

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes opinion genuine?
- How can leaders avoid superficial appeasement?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Adaptability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adaptability/) [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Public opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-opinion/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Wishful thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wishful-thinking/)

## Related quotes

> [Perhaps the most important reason to be skeptical of government inflation numbers is that the government, like a fox campaigning to guard a hen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/perhaps-the-most-important-reason-to-be-skeptical-of-government/)

[Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/)

> [“Some men ease themselves like setting hens into the nest of death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/some-men-ease-themselves-like-setting-hens-into-the-nest-of-death/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

> [When Galileo discovered he could use the tools of mathematics and mechanics to understand the motion of celestial bodies, he felt, in the words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/when-galileo-discovered-he-could-use-the-tools-of-mathematics-and/)

[William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/)

> [Gipsies, who every ill can cure, Except the ill of being poor Who charms 'gainst love and agues sell, Who can in hen-roost set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-churchill/gipsies-who-every-ill-can-cure-except-the-ill-of-being-poor-who/)

[Charles Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-churchill/)

> [It takes one hen to lay an egg, but seven men to sell it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-dennis/it-takes-one-hen-to-lay-an-egg-but-seven-men-to-sell-it/)

C. J. Dennis

> [If you are writing about baloney, don't try and make it Cornish hen, because that's the worst kind of baloney there is. Just make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-burnett/if-you-are-writing-about-baloney-don-t-try-and-make-it-cornish-hen/)

[Leo Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-burnett/)

> [The ego camouflages itself like a fox born and raised in a hen house. Its only worry is that you fail to notice its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-ego-camouflages-itself-like-a-fox-born-and-raised-in-a-hen-house/)

[Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/)

> [Every hen thinks she has laid the best egg! Can we not all believe as we choose? But the choice of others - what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/every-hen-thinks-she-has-laid-the-best-egg-can-we-not-all-believe-as/)

[Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/)

> [hen the price of carbon reaches $100 a tonne, then it will become an economically viable business proposition to start taking COâ‚‚ out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-homer-dixon/hen-the-price-of-carbon-reaches-100-a-tonne-then-it-will-become-an/)

[Thomas Homer-Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-homer-dixon/)

> [When painting the faces of young persons ... use the yolk of the egg of a city hen, because they have lighter yolks than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cennino-cennini/when-painting-the-faces-of-young-persons-use-the-yolk-of-the-egg-of-a/)

[Cennino Cennini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cennino-cennini/)

> [We are constituted a good deal like chickens, which, taken from the hen, and put in a basket of cotton in the chimney-corner, willoften…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-are-constituted-a-good-deal-like-chickens-which-taken-from-the-hen/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [Spring comes with joyous laugh, and song, and sunshine, and the burnt sacrifice of the over-ripe boot and the hoary overshoe. The cowboy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-wilson-nye/spring-comes-with-joyous-laugh-and-song-and-sunshine-and-the-burnt/)

[Edgar Wilson Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-wilson-nye/)

> [Pain makes hens and poets cackle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/pain-makes-hens-and-poets-cackle/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/)

[Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/)

> [ hen Baillie \[Walsh, writer and director\] wrote the movie for me I wasn't doing what I'm doing today, so when we actually came to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-craig/hen-baillie-walsh-writer-and-director-wrote-the-movie-for-me-i-wasn-t/)

[Daniel Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-craig/)

## More by Willa Cather

> [The end is nothing; the road is all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-end-is-nothing-the-road-is-all/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [Of all the bewildering things about a new country, the absence of human landmarks is one of the most depressing and disheartening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/of-all-the-bewildering-things-about-a-new-country-the-absence-of/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [Success is less interesting than struggle. There is great pleasure in the effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/success-is-less-interesting-than-struggle-there-is-great-pleasure-in/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [“I only knew the schoolbooks said he "died in the wilderness, of a broken heart." "More than him has done that," said Antonia sadly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/i-only-knew-the-schoolbooks-said-he-died-in-the-wilderness-of-a/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [“Have the last word ma'm," he said cheerfully. "It's a lady's privilege.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/have-the-last-word-ma-m-he-said-cheerfully-it-s-a-lady-s-privilege/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> ["More than him has done that," said Antonia sadly, and the girls murmured assent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/more-than-him-has-done-that-said-antonia-sadly-and-the-girls-murmured/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [Nothing mattered ... but writing books, and living the kind of life that made it possible to write them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/nothing-mattered-but-writing-books-and-living-the-kind-of-life-that/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [“Money and office and success are the consolations of impotence. Fortune turns kind to such solid people and lets them suck their bone in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/money-and-office-and-success-are-the-consolations-of-impotence/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [But she still had that something which fires the imagination, could still stop one's breath for a moment by a look or gesture that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/but-she-still-had-that-something-which-fires-the-imagination-could/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [“You remember how homesick I used to get, and what long talks we used to have coming from school? We've someway always felt alike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/you-remember-how-homesick-i-used-to-get-and-what-long-talks-we-used/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [“He placed this book in my grandmother's hands, looked at her entreatingly, and said, with an earnestness which I shall never forget, "Te-e-ach, te-e-ach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/he-placed-this-book-in-my-grandmother-s-hands-looked-at-her/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [The sincerity of feeling that is possible between a writer and a reader is one of the finest things I know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-sincerity-of-feeling-that-is-possible-between-a-writer-and-a/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [Our tree became the talking tree of the fairy tale; legends and stories nestled like birds in its branches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/our-tree-became-the-talking-tree-of-the-fairy-tale-legends-and/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [“Isn’t it queer: there are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/isn-t-it-queer-there-are-only-two-or-three-human-stories-and-they-go/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

[Explore all 434 Willa Cather quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

## More Adaptability quotes

> [if I can't get what I want - well, I'll want what I can get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-maud-montgomery/if-i-can-t-get-what-i-want-well-i-ll-want-what-i-can-get/)

[Lucy Maud Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-maud-montgomery/)

> [ My contemplation of life and human nature in that secluded place \[cell 54 of Cairo Central Prison\] taught me that he who cannot change… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anwar-sadat/my-contemplation-of-life-and-human-nature-in-that-secluded-place-cell/)

[Anwar Sadat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anwar-sadat/)

> [We'll have a different set of values, and society will adapt. That doesn't mean these changes are all good, just because we will accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reischauer/we-ll-have-a-different-set-of-values-and-society-will-adapt-that/)

Robert Reischauer

> [“Evolution is more about adaptivity than adaptability.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/evolution-is-more-about-adaptivity-than-adaptability/)

[Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/)

> [I think that human beings have gotten as far as we've gotten because of our adaptability, our ability to adapt, and our ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-silva/i-think-that-human-beings-have-gotten-as-far-as-we-ve-gotten-because/)

[Jason Silva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-silva/)

> [“It's a fact— everyone is ignorant in some way or another. Ignorance is our deepest secret. And it is one of the scariest things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/it-s-a-fact-everyone-is-ignorant-in-some-way-or-another-ignorance-is/)

[Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/)

> [The fastest thing computers do is go obsolete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/the-fastest-thing-computers-do-is-go-obsolete/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [“adaptability coupled with readiness to flower year after year right from the first, roses are clearly”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-oster/adaptability-coupled-with-readiness-to-flower-year-after-year-right/)

[Maggie Oster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-oster/)

> [There's a mindset of flexibility and adaptability that comes with us. We don't mind hardship. We don't mind somebody saying, 'Go in and do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-f-amos/there-s-a-mindset-of-flexibility-and-adaptability-that-comes-with-us/)

[James F. Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-f-amos/)

> [“Change is inevitable. Wise leaders anticipate it and adapt quickly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-rivard/change-is-inevitable-wise-leaders-anticipate-it-and-adapt-quickly/)

Cynthia Rivard

> [“Marketing is a never-ending story. It’s about perpetual motion where innovation plays the lead role.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-kehoe/marketing-is-a-never-ending-story-it-s-about-perpetual-motion-where/)

[Stacey Kehoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-kehoe/)

> [“...such it is with all human sensations that people become gradually used to everything and this is truly a beneficial gift from nature, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-wagevier/such-it-is-with-all-human-sensations-that-people-become-gradually/)

C. J. Wagevier

> [“That was certainly a case of snowballing momentum. Who would've thought he'd succeed being that far behind?" "True. This particular assignment was designed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuto-tsukuda/that-was-certainly-a-case-of-snowballing-momentum-who-would-ve/)

[Yuto Tsukuda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuto-tsukuda/)

> [My point was simply that the war on global terrorism is going to be a long one, and we need to adapt as our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-myers/my-point-was-simply-that-the-war-on-global-terrorism-is-going-to-be-a/)

Richard Myers

> [“Digital attitude is about adaptability - being experimental and changeable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-zhu/digital-attitude-is-about-adaptability-being-experimental-and/)

[Pearl Zhu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-zhu/)

[Browse all 162 Adaptability quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adaptability/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Thea was still under the belief that public opinion could be placated; that if you clucked often enough, the hens would mistake you for one of themselves.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Willa Cather"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/thea-was-still-under-the-belief-that-public-opinion-could-be-placated/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Adaptability"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/thea-was-still-under-the-belief-that-public-opinion-could-be-placated/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/willa-cather-634_adaptability_thea-was-still-under-the-belief-that-pub_127107.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/willa-cather-634_adaptability_thea-was-still-under-the-belief-that-pub_127107.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/willa-cather-634_adaptability_thea-was-still-under-the-belief-that-pub_127107.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Thea was still under the belief that public opinion could be placated; that if you clucked often enough, the…” — Willa Cather",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Willa Cather",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Thea was still under the belief...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/thea-was-still-under-the-belief-that-public-opinion-could-be-placated/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/thea-was-still-under-the-belief-that-public-opinion-could-be-placated/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
