# Trouble speaking a dissenting opinion to others sometimes **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 14, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-speaking-a-dissenting-opinion-to-others-sometimes/681358 "2014-02-14T19:06:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gateway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dbc845/32.png) [@Gateway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gateway)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-speaking-a-dissenting-opinion-to-others-sometimes/681358/21 "2014-02-15T23:27:59Z")
> [@geezer1](#): > > It’s sorta like someone who would have 10 posts on a thread of 20 . . . I still don’t know what your original post was about. The reason I did all the posts is to reply to everyone. It may not look as “nice” as if they were all in one post, but that’s how it came out. Same amount of information really so I don’t see why that’s a big deal, if you are implying that it is. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-speaking-a-dissenting-opinion-to-others-sometimes/681358/22 "2014-02-16T15:37:10Z")
> [@Gateway](#): > > Also, I think it’s relevant to note: as far as me saying what naturally flows out, here is where I am coming from. I have read a translation of the Tao-Te-Ching, and one of the passages in it says something similar to: “The snowgoose need not change it’s white feathers to be beautiful, it is already beautiful.” In other words, you are already enough as you are. Snowgeese truly DON’T need to do anything to be awesome. Nor does any animal in my opinion, and I feel that likely holds true for humans. If I don’t need to change myself and still have beauty, then why should I alter what is my natural wording which is more me then anything else? I’d answer: a snow goose is beautiful whether it is silent or whether it finds its voice, for it is all in the nature of the snow goose. These “friends”… do they even care what you think, or do they just keep you around for looks or because they can? Its sad to say, but some of the lower forms of life get off on control. Speak your mind. A true friend will engage you in thought, not try to keep you from it. (I’ve always thought that that’s rather thoughtless of them. 😉 ) Please look at it this way: its Just Not Possible for you to lose a friend by speaking your mind because anyone who would end their connection with you over it, by definition, isn’t your friend. Your voice is important! Foster it, use it and never let it be silenced by the overbearing: Loud doesn’t make Right. As for the Nasty and Obnoxious, Louis Carroll wrote of a Cheshire Cat who would disappear slowly but leave behind last its smile. In this case, the people who would silence you leave behind a smirk or a sneer. Imagine them just like that cat: that without their nasty, cutting, and controlling remarks, they are well-and-truly… Nothing! Let them fade to their desired nothingness… …and let them take their words with them in the end. GL ---
**Author:** ![Gateway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dbc845/32.png) [@Gateway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gateway)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-speaking-a-dissenting-opinion-to-others-sometimes/681358/23 "2014-02-17T00:00:44Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > I’d answer: a snow goose is beautiful whether it is silent or whether it finds its voice, for it is all in the nature of the snow goose. > > These “friends”… do they even care what you think, or do they just keep you around for looks or because they can? Its sad to say, but some of the lower forms of life get off on control. Speak your mind. > A true friend will engage you in thought, not try to keep you from it. (I’ve always thought that that’s rather thoughtless of them. 😉 ) Please look at it this way: its Just Not Possible for you to lose a friend > by speaking your mind because anyone who would end their connection with you over it, by definition, isn’t your friend. > > Your voice is important! Foster it, use it and never let it be silenced by the overbearing: Loud doesn’t make Right. > > As for the Nasty and Obnoxious, Louis Carroll wrote of a Cheshire Cat who would disappear slowly but leave behind last its smile. In this case, the people who would silence you leave behind a smirk or a sneer. > Imagine them just like that cat: that without their nasty, cutting, and controlling remarks, they are well-and-truly… Nothing! Let them fade to their desired nothingness… > > …and let them take their words with them in the end. > > GL I appreciate the post, but it’s not exactly like that. There may be some bad experiences of rejection and isolation in my past, but as far as my current situation goes it is not that anyone actually IS rude, it’s just it is an automatic trigger for me not to speak my opinion sometimes [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trouble-speaking-a-dissenting-opinion-to-others-sometimes/681358.md?page=1)