"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.
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
| Topic | Confidence |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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