distracted by faction............................

In a nation distracted by faction, there are, no doubt, always a few, though commonly but a very few, who preserve their judgment untainted by the general contagion. They seldom amount to more than, here and there, a solitary individual, without any influence, excluded, by his own candour, from the confidence of either party, and who, though he may be one of the wisest, is necessarily, upon that very account, one of the most insignificant men in the society.  All such people are held in contempt and derision, and frequently in detestation, by the zealots of both parties.

-Adam Smith,  The Theory of Moral Sentiments