Skip to main content

Daily Inspiration Quote by Queen Victoria

"The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them"

About this Quote

A queen insisting she doesnt care what they think is never just doing self-help. In Victorias mouth, the line doubles as a discipline tactic and a subtle reminder of the direction power is supposed to flow. The pivot from "me" to "them" isnt defensive; its evaluative. She recasts public opinion as noise and elevates royal judgment as the only metric that matters. Thats not mere pride its governance by gaze: the crown survives by ranking, rewarding, freezing out.

The subtext is especially pointed given Victorias century, when monarchy had to learn to coexist with mass politics, a ferocious press, and an expanding electorate. She was both symbol and target: caricatured, scrutinized, endlessly interpreted. This sentence reads like a private vaccination against that exposure. If you cant control the crowd, you can at least deny it the power to define you.

Theres also a sharp emotional logic under the steel. Victoria lived much of her reign managing grief, isolation, and the claustrophobia of being watched for a living. Declaring that other peoples opinions dont matter is a way to reclaim interior space. Yet the second clause gives away the real concern: she does care about people, just not on their terms. She reserves the right to approve, to dismiss, to decide who counts. Its a monarchs version of boundaries, less about serenity than sovereignty.

Quote Details

TopicConfidence
SourceHelp us find the source
CiteCite this Quote

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Victoria, Queen. (2026, January 14). The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-important-thing-is-not-what-they-think-of-me-15476/

Chicago Style
Victoria, Queen. "The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them." FixQuotes. January 14, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-important-thing-is-not-what-they-think-of-me-15476/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them." FixQuotes, 14 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-important-thing-is-not-what-they-think-of-me-15476/. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Queen Add to List
What I Think of Them: Queen Victoria on Self Worth and Judgment
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria (May 24, 1819 - January 22, 1901) was a Royalty from United Kingdom.

14 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes