PUBLIC OPINION

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 637, 13 April 1929, Page 8

PUBLIC OPINION

THE QUIET CORNER

(Written for THE SUN by the Rev. Charles Chandler , Assistant City Missioner.J B EYOND acting as a restraining influence, public opinion need not be taken into serious account. Public opinion may keep us from voicing in the backyard, or from talking too often to other men's wives, but beyond that it is hardly worthy of attenion. In the first place, the public, as a body, is incapable of holding an opinion. Crowds don't think; they feel. They catch their ideas as men catch colds —by contagion—and lose them just as easily. What men crave to-day, they spurn to-morrow, and he who feels unduly flattered by the applause of a crowd is a poor psychologist. The world is as ready to-day as ever it was to oust its truly great, and the only note of appreciation or of denunciation which needs to be taken seriously is that which is struck in a minor key. It is not because there is a preponderance of ignorance that public opinion is so unworthy of attention. Were ice all intellectual giants the position would be even worse. If t .ere are any two creatures on God's earth who can fight more fiercely than Kilkenny cats, or bantam roosters, it is two theologians of opposing schools of thought. Say what you like and you'll get a following. That is why there are so many different creeds and denominations. He goes farthest in this world who is oblivious of what others think about the way he has of doing things. Like many a dog which shores its teeth, public opinion is a coward at heart. Its bark is far worse than its bite, and paradoxically enough, its rewards are for those who pay it the least attention. Many a man has spoilt his chances with the girl of his choice through taking too much notice of her, and those who take too much notice of public opinion often end vp by getting nowhere. NEXT WEEK; STRIKING- A BALANCE.