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The masses32 quotes
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. — Henry David Thoreau · 1854Only two things does he anxiously wish for-bread and circuses. — Juvenal · 127Are you not entertained? — Maximus Decimus Meridius · 2000He’s loved of the distracted multitude,
Who like not in their judgment, but their eyes. — William Shakespeare · 1616For who can be secure of private right,
If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might?
Nor is the people's judgement always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few. — John Dryden · 1681The great masses of the people...more easily fall a victim to a big lie than to a little one. — Adolf Hitler · 1925All 32 quotes →Political theory4 quotes
When the masses get involved in reasoning, everything is lost. — Voltaire · 1766Nor is the people's judgment always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few. — John Dryden · 1681And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness. — Alcuin of York · 800All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well born, the other the mass of the people... The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class a distinct, permanent share in the government. They will check the unsteadiness of the second, and as they cannot receive any advantage by a change, they therefore will ever maintain good government. — Alexander Hamilton · 1787The mob3 quotes
The mad mob does not ask how it could be better, only that it be different. And when it then becomes worse, it must change again. Thus they get bees for flies, and at last hornets for bees. — Martin Luther · 1526If it has to choose who is to be crucified, the crowd will always save Barabbas. — Jean Cocteau · 1918And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness. — Alcuin of York · 800Democracy2 quotes
For who can be secure of private right,
If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might?
Nor is the people's judgement always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few. — John Dryden · 1681When the masses get involved in reasoning, everything is lost. — Voltaire · 1766Entertainment2 quotes
Only two things does he anxiously wish for-bread and circuses. — Juvenal · 127Are you not entertained? — Maximus Decimus Meridius · 2000Happiness2 quotes
The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness, and that, for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better. — George Orwell · 1949Take the life-lie away from the average man and straight away you take away his happiness. — Henrik Ibsen · 1884Human nature2 quotes
So long as the great majority of men are not deprived of either property or honour, they are satisfied. — Niccolo Machiavelli · 1532The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness, and that, for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better. — George Orwell · 1949Politics2 quotes
The great masses of the people...more easily fall a victim to a big lie than to a little one. — Adolf Hitler · 1925And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness. — Alcuin of York · 800Americans1 quote
What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public, alight? — Zalinsky · 1995Autopilot1 quote
Not choice
But habit rules the unreflecting herd. — William Wordsworth · 1822Conformity1 quote
Our dangers, as it seems to me, are not from the outrageous but from the conforming; not from those who rarely and under the lurid glare of obloquy upset our moral complaisance, or shock us with unaccustomed conduct, but from those, the mass of us, who take their virtues and their tastes, like their shirts and their furniture, from the limited patterns which the market offers. — Learned Hand · 1927Consensus1 quote
Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform. — Mark Twain · 1904Contrarian1 quote
I subscribe to the law of contrary public opinion. If everyone thinks one thing, then I say, bet the other way. — Ricky Roma · 1992Critique of democracy1 quote
Nor is the people's judgment always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few. — John Dryden · 1681Decline of civilization1 quote
Only two things does he anxiously wish for-bread and circuses. — Juvenal · 127Delusion1 quote
Take the life-lie away from the average man and straight away you take away his happiness. — Henrik Ibsen · 1884Disinformation1 quote
The great masses of the people...more easily fall a victim to a big lie than to a little one. — Adolf Hitler · 1925Education1 quote
[Education] has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading. — G.M. Trevelyan · 1942Elitism1 quote
All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well born, the other the mass of the people... The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class a distinct, permanent share in the government. They will check the unsteadiness of the second, and as they cannot receive any advantage by a change, they therefore will ever maintain good government. — Alexander Hamilton · 1787Fame1 quote
The best choose one thing instead of everything, everlasting fame among mortals; but the masses stuff themselves like cattle. — HeraclitusFickleness of the mob1 quote
The people are a many-headed beast. — Horace · 20 BCFreedom1 quote
The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness, and that, for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better. — George Orwell · 1949Gluttony1 quote
The best choose one thing instead of everything, everlasting fame among mortals; but the masses stuff themselves like cattle. — HeraclitusGrass1 quote
If you desire what is good, the people will be good. The character of a ruler is like wind and that of the people is like grass. In whatever direction the wind blows the grass always bends. — Confucius · 221 BCHabits1 quote
Not choice
But habit rules the unreflecting herd. — William Wordsworth · 1822Heroes1 quote
But you gotta be a, a hero. You want to be a champion. Well, let me tell you, people don't want a champion. They want to eat cheeseburgers, play the lotto, and watch television. — William Somerset · 1995Ignorance is bliss1 quote
You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it. — Morpheus · 1999Legacy1 quote
The best choose one thing instead of everything, everlasting fame among mortals; but the masses stuff themselves like cattle. — HeraclitusMajority opinions1 quote
Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform. — Mark Twain · 1904