Creativity Quote by Cass Elliot

There is a blunt kind of courage in Cass Elliot's line: it rejects the romantic idea that conviction is something you privately cradle and instead treats it like a public act with consequences. "If you really think you're right" is a challenge as much as a reassurance. It implies most people don't actually trust their own judgment; they hide behind hedged language, vibes, or the safety of silence. Elliot makes "right" less a moral halo and more a pressure test: if your belief can't survive being spoken aloud, maybe it isn't belief at all.

The second half, "you should tell it", lands with the plainspoken force of a singer who understands performance as communication, not decoration. "Tell" is key. Not "argue", not "prove", not "win". It suggests clarity over combat, testimony over dunking. There's a faint populism to it: truth as something you owe other people, not just something you possess. In the mouth of a musician, that carries extra subtext - songs are literally convictions set to air, and a voice is a tool for making inner life shareable.

Context sharpens the stakes. Elliot moved through an industry and era that rewarded charisma while policing women's assertiveness, bodies, and authority. For her, speaking up wasn't just philosophical; it was reputational risk. The quote reads like advice to the shy and a warning to the powerful: silence is a choice, and if you're convinced you're right, you don't get to outsource the discomfort of saying so.