Thomas de Quincey Quotes
The public is a bad guesser.
Thomas De Quincy, 1785-1859, English Author, Essays. Protestantism
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Compared this to public figures a century later where a major object was to “intrude” views upon the public as much as possible. Washington was not unusual for the time. Shortly thereafter Theodore Roosevelt would change the face of politics by reaching the public skillfully and often. Others continued the approach to public opinion and even expanded the practice. Today, we look back at the pre TR days and think of remarks like this one as “quaint.”
Thomas Penson De Quincey was an English essayist, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821). Many scholars suggest that in publishing this work De Quincey inaugurated the tradition of addiction literature in the West.