100 Quotes About Popularity

We awaken by asking the right questions. We awaken when we see knowledge being spread that goes against our own personal experiences. We awaken when we see popular opinion being wrong but accepted as being right, and what is right being pushed as being wrong. We awaken by seeking answers in corners that are not popular. And we awaken by turning on the light inside when everything outside feels dark. Suzy Kassem

What people want, mainly, is to be told by some plausible authority that what they are already doing is right. I don't know know of a quicker way to become unpopular than to disagree. John Brunner

A psychiatrist once told me early in treatment, “Stop trying to make me like you, ” and what a sobering and welcome smack in the face that statement was. Yet somehow, every day of my life is still a campaign for popularity, or better yet, a crowded funeral. John Waters

Imitating recent successes is a game that everybody knows how to play. But seeing the next big thing before anybody else sees it is far more valuable... It means being a little bit wrong at just the right time. Derek Thompson

It is not merely the feeling that something is familiar. It is one step beyond that. It is something new, challenging, or surprising that opens a door into a feeling of comfort, meaning, or familiarity. It is called an aesthetic aha. Derek Thompson

His habit of reading isolated him: it became such a need that after being in company for some time he grew tired and restless; he was vain of the wider knowledge he had acquired from the perusal of so many books, his mind was alert, and he had not the skill to hide his contempt for his companions' stupidity. They complained that he was conceited; and, since he excelled only in matters which to them were unimportant, they asked satirically what he had to be conceited about. He was developing a sense of humour, and found that he had a knack of saying bitter things, which caught people on the raw; he said them because they amused him, hardly realising how much they hurt, and was much offended when he found that his victims regarded him with active dislike. The humiliations he suffered when he first went to school had caused in him a shrinking from his fellows which he could never entirely overcome; he remained shy and silent. But though he did everything to alienate the sympathy of other boys he longed with all his heart for the popularity which to some was so easily accorded. These from his distance he admired extravagantly; and though he was inclined to be more sarcastic with them than with others, though he made little jokes at their expense, he would have given anything to change places with them. W. Somerset Maugham

Initially [my favorite books] seem to immerse me in another life, but ultimately they immerse me in me; I am looking through the window into another person’s home, but it is my face that I see in the reflection. Derek Thompson

Most of the time, we see only what we want to see, or what others tell us to see, instead of really investigate to see what is really there. We embrace illusions only because we are presented with the illusion that they are embraced by the majority. When in truth, they only become popular because they are pounded at us by the media with such an intensity and high level of repetition that its mere force disguises lies and truths. And like obedient schoolchildren, we do not question their validity and swallow everything up like medicine. Why? Because since the earliest days of our youth, we have been conditioned to accept that the direction of the herd, and authority anywhere – is always right. Suzy Kassem

The internet has become a carefully controlled and heavily monitored illusion. It has turned into both a circus and battleground. Popularity is rigged and can be bought. Censorship is in full effect. Popular opinion is fabricated, and the perception of a viewpoint's popularity is typically orchestrated and manipulated by legions of paid trolls. If you want to know the truth about somebody's true popularity and influence, look to the streets. If you want to know if a person is really guilty or innocent, study the facts yourself. Never judge anybody based on what you see or read on the internet. Information can easily be manipulated by the push of a few buttons. Suzy Kassem

My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular. Unknown

I find comfort in the fact that the longer I'm in politics the less nourishing popularity becomes, that striving for power and rank and fame seems to betray a poverty of ambition, and that I am answerable mainly to the steady gaze of my own conscience. Barack Obama

A sure way of retaining the grace of heaven is to disregard outward appearances, and diligently to cultivate such things as foster amendment of life and fervour of soul, rather than to cultivate those qualities that seem most popular. Unknown

Gen. de Gaulle is only concerned about history, and no jury can dictate the judgment of history." Georges Pompidou Mark Kurlansky

William McKinley was a man made to be managed. Barbara W. Tuchman

Richard Nixon coveted, to the point of obsession, a controversy-free, stage-managed coronation. David Pietrusza

The public personality of a leader is not what really matters. What he does out of the open stage really tells more about him than anything else. Israelmore Ayivor

The stories that grow up around a king are strong vines with a fierce grip. Geraldine Brooks

If the artist reflects only his own culture, then his works will die with that culture. But if his works reflect the eternal and universal, they will revive. Madeleine LEngle

The nobles had made reading unpopular, as it showed that one couldn’t afford to buy spells or magical devices, since one had to get knowledge to do things the ordinary way; even if this view held little logic, the king himself was known to insult readers as “bookfaces” or “unable to think for themselves, so they need to spout what others have said, ” and these opinions became popular, as did most views expressed by the king or his son. Colleen Chen

If God in all of His infinite power and love were real to us, the opinions of men, either for or against us, and the honor or dishonor they may bestow would shrink into nothingness in comparison. Dave Hunt

Bellgrove, eminently lovable, because of his individual weakness, his incompetence, his failure as a man, a scholar, a leader or even as a companion, was neverless utterly alone. For the weak, above all, have their friends. Yet his gentleness, his pretence at authority, his palpable humanity were unable, for some reason or other, to function. He was demonstrably the type of venerable and absent-minded professor about whom all the sharp-beaked boys of the world should swarm. . Mervyn Peake

He knows how to market himself well. Nowadays, that's all that seems to count. He's rebellious in a way that appeals to people with vain, shallow taste. So of course he manipulates his audiences with the blessing of his recording company and the financial investors behind his brand. Jess C. Scott

There are 2 kinds of artists, essentially: those who want to make something popular, and those who want to make something dignified. But then there is still that rare hybrid case, and perhaps by that unintentional stroke of genius, in which one's work uncontrollably becomes both popular and dignified yet beyond its time. Criss Jami

The best art is not always the most popular art, and the most popular art is never truly the best art. The best art is that which is streamed through God. And the worst art is that which is void of God. The master artist of the universe is the Creator of All Things, and his reflection is in all of us. Only the artist who is aware that he is a reflection of that greatness, and that creativity is supreme love, is a true divine artist. Even if he is not the most popular artist, he will be very popular among the stars of His universe. That is the master artist, one who uses his talents to serve as a vehicle of God. In his work, you hear God's voice and see with His eyes. Suzy Kassem

It is so easy at times for a lonely individual to begin fantasizing about what the people outside are saying about him and, in result, irrationally and fearfully, and sometimes angrily, fancy himself a villain. Criss Jami

Do you think that a billion people knowing your face makes you special? It doesn't. Ramez Naam

Students didn't much like those who verbally or physically beat the crap out of them. But when researchers began measuring aggression alongside perceived popularity, they found an undeniably strong link. Recent studies conclude that aggressive behaviors are now often associated with high social status. Psychologists no longer view aggression as a last-resort tactic of social misfits. Now they see aggression as a means toward social success. (This does not, however, mean it is admired.) . Alexandra Robbins

Most of social media is simply a popularity contest. Well, I'm not here for the competition; I have important business and words of depth to change the course. So, while you follow the path of the ignorant, the rest of us will celebrate truth and the higher path. Dara Reidyr

As a CIO, you are the first to step into traffic, to stand alone during a period of change before people come on board. That takes personal courage.. Traditionally, in IT, we like to please. But IT is not a popularity contest; it's a reality show where we often have to deliver tough information.. Being a CIO means having the courage not to cut corners to please a stakeholder and delivering the hard message that this is not a risk we're willing to take. Martha Heller

Fred dislikes the idea going into the ministry partly because he doesn't like "feeling obligated to look serious", and he centers his doubts on "what people expect of a clergyman". George Eliot

You can have all the money in the world, one of the biggest mansions ever built, be one of the most famous people in the world, and still be as unhappy as Mariah Carey was. Money and fame don't make people happy. Only God does. Amen. Lisa Bedrick

Popular! In America, what else matters? Joyce Carol Oates

But there was another class of people, the real people. To this class they all belonged, and in it the great thing was to be elegant, generous, plucky, gay, to abandon oneself without a blush to every passion, and to laugh at everything else. Leo Tolstoy

He was moderately truthful towards men, but to women lied like a Cretan-a system of ethics above all others calculated to win popularity at the first flush of admission into lively society. Thomas Hardy

Whether you try too hard to fit in or you try too hard to stand out, it is of equal consequence: you exhaust your significance. Criss Jami

I don't purchase people with money, or hiss like a snake to attract their attention, all i do is to rest on my couch because i have the conviction that no human can progress with an exception without a power behind. Michael Bassey Johnson

[When asked about his thoughts on gods] I think it's like a movie that was way too popular. It's a story that's been told too many times and just doesn't mean anything. Man lived on the planet – [placing his fingers an inch apart], this is 5000 years of semi-recorded history. And God and the Bible, that came in somewhere around the middle, maybe 2000. This is the last 2000, this is what we're about to celebrate [indicating about an 1/8th of an inch with his fingers]. Now, humans, in some shape or form, have been on the earth for three million years [pointing across the room to indicate the distance]. So, all this time, from there [gesturing toward the other side of the room], to here [indicating the 1/8th of an inch], there was no God, there was no story, there was no myth and people lived on this planet and they wandered and they gathered and they did all these things. The planet was never threatened. How did they survive for all this time without this belief in God? I'd like to ask this to someone who knows about Christianity and maybe you do. That just seems funny to me. . Eddie Vedder

False has many wings. Do not judge anything by its popularity. Amit Ray

Creosote made Mandy think of the thrill of rushing through a garden sprinkler as a kid, of playing washer toss in the backyard, of spending nights in the neighbors’ huge in-ground swimming pool when she was twelve, throwing glow sticks in the turquoise water during Canada Day block parties. She thought of Jud for a moment, how he’d loved doing all those things when he was a kid, but how, as he got older, it was all about popularity, sports, a life of illusion… and without warning, a totally different kind of memory filled her mind — the dull feeling of her head hitting the concrete walls near the wood shop at her old high school, the sounds of kids laughing, the sharp smell of sawdust, the buzzing of electric sanders nearby, the sound of Jud laughing while he beat her up… without realizing it, she’d started crying noiselessly. Rebecca McNutt

If you sell, say, two thousand copies, it is the same thing as if you had sold nothing at all because two thousand is too vast– I mean, for the imagination to grasp. While thirty-seven people–perhaps thirty-seven are too many, perhaps seventeen would have been better or even seven–but still thirty-seven are still within the scope of one's imagination. Jorge Luis Borges

Many people seek popularity and want everyone to know their name. It’s not important for everyone to know your name, it’s important that some of the people you know don’t forget your name. Ron Baratono

You’d be hard-pressed to find an old person who would trade in a true friend for any amount of popularity or fame. You'd also be hard-pressed to find a young person who wouldn't. Dan Pearce

Roo: What’s your definition of popularity? Hutch: I used to think people were popular because they were good-looking, or nice, or funny, or good at sports. Roo: Aren’t they? Hutch: I’d think, if I could just be those things, I’d — you know — have more friends than I do. But in seventh grade, when Jackson and those guys stopped hanging out with me, I tried as hard as I could to get them to like me again. But then . . (shaking his head as if to clear it) I don’t really wanna talk about it. Roo: What happened? Hutch: They just did some ugly stuff to me is all. And really, it was for the best. Roo: Why?Hutch: Because I was cured. I realized the popular people weren’t nice or funny or great-looking. They just had power, and they actually got the power by teasing people or humiliating them — so people bonded to them out of fear. Roo: Oh. Hutch: I didn’t want to be a person who could act like that. I didn’t want to ever speak to any person who could act like that. Roo: OhHutch: So then I wasn’t trying to be popular anymore. Roo: Weren’t you lonely? Hutch: I didn’t say it was fun. (He bites his thumbnail, bonsai dirt and all.) I said it was for the best. E. Lockhart

Posting dramatic charts or funny pictures is good and giving people smart reasons to believe what they already think is great. Derek Thompson

Some consumers buy products not because they are ‘better” in any way, but simply because they are popular. What they’re buying is not just a product, but also a piece of popularity itself. Derek Thompson

The fact that everyone is doing something does not mean that’s the right things. Israelmore Ayivor

Take the unpopular route. Use the road no one travels by. Think of doing what is uncommon but remarkable. You have absolutely nobody to overtake you on the empty road! Israelmore Ayivor

When I was a teen, I liked to hang out around popular girls, I thought they had some magic, secrets that only they knew and I wanted to learn it.. Though pretty soon I realized.. popular girls were just like spam.. they promised a lot, but only thing they had and could use were their well-built bodies and ability to apply make-up here and there. Mostly they were deceptive and had no senses.. they had no idea about friendship, kindness and beauty as it is. Friendship for them was not something more than poor relations, sort of like in "God Father". Love for them was not something bigger than sex. Kindness for them was to have a kitty or a dog (which was already very rare case).. And beauty for them was.. well, you can imagine. Concentrated selfishness . Galina Nelson

Real popularity is taking the time to love others, reaching out, and never being afraid to be the first one dancing. REMEMBER THE GIRL IN PEARLS. Maya Van Wagenen

Being popular comes when you have everything. But to be liked, it means that you must be treating people with respect and you must be showing kindness toward them. Rania Al Abdullah

How is it that some celebrities, whom the average person would believe to have all the popularity a human being could want, still admit to feeling lonely? It is quite naive to assume that popularity is the remedy for loneliness. Loneliness does not necessarily equal physical solitude, it is the inability to be oneself and rightfully represented as oneself. Criss Jami

So remember those who win the game Lose the love they sought to gain In debitures of quality and dubious integrity Their small-town eyes will gape at you In dull surprise when payment due Exceeds accounts received at seventeen Janis Ian

Appreciate what everybody does, especially those doing what you are also doing. Don’t crave for attention and fame. It will come automatically when your brand is well situated. Israelmore Ayivor

When you are rich, your past disappears. You get everything you want when you want it .. . Everyone wants to know you. Everyone wants to be your friend. Hannah Lillith Assadi

Do not be a "go along, get along" person when it comes to the suffering of others. Integrity is not a popularity contest. Stand for love! Bryant McGill

A lot of people don't like me. I take that as evidence that I have done something beautifully different or something extraordinary. Dan Pearce

The consequences of seeking popularity is not only the chronic feeling of lonliness, but a desire to hide your face from the eyes of the universe. Michael Bassey Johnson

You want to be popular? It’s easy to do. Just be a total weirdo and love yourself for it. Dan Pearce

Some people were simply created with the right genes and the proper social skills, I figured. They ended up at a lunch table with a group of good-looking individuals, like them, who did what all good-looking individuals managed: making the rest of us feel both envious of them and sad for ourselves, intentional or not. They had activities outside of school and followers online–people of social necessity who sat at home on Friday nights and 'liked' popular posts in hopes that they, too, might one day be as attractive and personable. Bryant A. Loney

Everyone was going crazy, like they’d just witnessed the birth of Jesus and the invention of electricity at the same time. Jude was a rock star, their savior, and they were paying him homage. Nicole Williams

Life is not a popularity contest. A.D. Posey

Many writers make the mistake of making their readers appear like Lazarus, without any iota of care, throwing down books to readers to crunch as if they are dogs. Michael Bassey Johnson

The populace think that your rejection of popular standards is a rejection of all standard, and mere antinomianism; and the bold sensualist will use the name of philosophy to gild his crimes. But the law of consciousness abides. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Misunderstanding is generally simpler than true understanding, and hence has more potential for popularity. Raheel Farooq

The only time she's come close to being "known" was when she accidentally came out as bisexual during sophomore English class while talking about her favorite poem. C.B. Lee

Cultural products will spread faster and wider when everybody can see what everybody else is doing. It suggests that the future of many hit-making markets will be fully open, radically transparent, and very, very unequal. Derek Thompson

The things that are most popular are usually rubbish, stand up for what’s important, not popular. Alan Moore

Cities force growth and make men talkative and entertaining, but they make them artificial. Ralph Waldo Emerson H.W. Brands

It may be that the voice of the people is the voice of God 51 times out of 100. But the remaining 49 times, it is the voice of the devil, or worse, the voice of a fool. Theodore Roosevelt H.W. Brands

We the people have more power than we know, and we must learn to use it judiciously. Jeff Jarvis

Hanging with people who make you feel unappreciated, for the mere sake of appearing to be popular, is the loneliest place to be. Ellen J. Barrier

Beauty is more popular than virtues because it is more visible than virtues. Amit Kalantri

Back then: to be regarded as well-known, one had to be great. Today: to be regarded as great, one has to be well-known. Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Some books sold because they are (said to be) great. Some are (said to be) great because they sold. Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Don't feel better than anybody, because you feel like something. Always have it at the back of your mind that you were nothing before you became something, and that thing you supposed to be is absolutely nothing. Michael Bassey Johnson