Quotes from Gustave Le Bon

Notwithstanding all its progress, philosophy has been unable as yet to offer the masses any ideal that can charm them; but, as they must have their illusions at all cost, they turn instinctively, as the insect seeks the light, to the rhetoricians who accord them what they want. Not truth, but error has always been the chief factor in the evolution of nations,

An accident which should have caused the death of only five hundred instead of five thousand persons, but on the same day and in public, as the outcome of an accident appealing strongly to the eye, by the fall, for instance, of the Eiffel Tower, would have produced, on the contrary, an immense impression on the imagination of the crowd.

Men are ruled by ideas, sentiments, and customs—matters which are of the essence of ourselves. Institutions and laws are the outward manifestation of our character, the expression of its needs. Being its outcome, institutions and laws cannot change this character.

for the rival candidate, an effort must be made to destroy his chance by establishing by dint of affirmation, repetition, and contagion that he is an arrant scoundrel, and that it is a matter of common knowledge that he has been guilty of several crimes.

The disappearance of the conscious personality, the predominance of the unconscious personality, the turning of feelings and ideas in an identical direction by means of suggestion and contagion, the tendency to immediately transform the suggested ideas into acts; these, we see, are the principal characteristics of the individual forming part of a crowd. He is no longer himself, but has become an automaton who has ceased to be guided by his will.

To-day the majority of the great men who have swayed men's minds no longer have altars, but they have statues, or their portraits are in the hands of their admirers, and the cult of which they are the object is not notably different from that accorded to their predecessors.

The memorable events of history are the visible effects of the invisible changes of human thought. The reason these great events are so rare is that there is nothing so stable in a race as the inherited groundwork of its thoughts.

All founders of religious or political creeds have established them solely because they were successful in inspiring crowds with those fanatical sentiments which have as result that men find their happiness in worship and obedience and are ready to lay down their lives for their idol.

To give to men that portion of hope and illusion without which they cannot live, such is the reason for the existence of gods, heroes, and poets. During fifty years science appeared to undertake this task. But science has been compromised in hearts hungering after the ideal, because it does not dare to be lavish enough of promises, because it cannot lie.

As soon as a certain number of living beings are gathered together, whether they be animals or men, they place themselves instinctively under the authority of a chief.

To endow a man with faith is to multiply his strength tenfold. The great events of history have been brought about by obscure believers, who have had little beyond their faith in their favour. It is not by the aid of the learned or of philosophers, and still less of sceptics, that have been built up the great religions which have swayed the world, or the vast empires which have spread from one hemisphere to the other.

No se trata de supersticiones de otra época definitivamente expulsadas por la razón. En su eterna lucha contra la razón, el sentimiento no ha sido jamás vencido. Las masas no quieren escuchar ya las palabras divinidad y religión que las han dominado durante tanto tiempo; pero ninguna época las ha visto elevar tantas estatuas y altares como desde hace un siglo.

Las masas no tienen jamás sed de verdades. Ante las evidencias que las desagradan, se apartan, prefiriendo divinizar al error, si el error las seduce. Quien sabe ilusionarlas se convierte fácilmente en su amo; el que intenta desilusionarlas es siempre su víctima.

Dejemos pues la razón a los filósofos, pero no exijamos que intervenga demasiado en el gobierno de los hombres. No con la razón, sino a pesar de ella, se han creado sentimientos tales como el honor, la abnegación, la fe religiosa, el amor a la gloria y a la patria, que han sido hasta ahora los grandes resortes de todas las civilizaciones.

The precise moment at which a great belief is doomed is easily recognisable; it is the moment when its value begins to be called in question. Every general belief being little else than a fiction, it can only survive on the condition that it be not subjected to examination.

The crowd state and the domination of crowds is equivalent to the barbarian state, or to a return to it.

When, however, it is proposed to imbue the mind of a crowd with ideas and beliefs—with modern social theories, for instance—the leaders have recourse to different expedients. The principal of them are three in number and clearly defined—affirmation, repetition, and contagion. Their action is somewhat slow, but its effects, once produced, are very lasting.

The functions of governments necessarily increase in proportion as the indifference and helplessness of the citizens grow.

La raza y la esclavitud de nuestras necesidades cotidianas son las misteriosas causas maestras que gobiernan nuestro destino.

The CASTE represents the highest degree of organisation of which the crowd is susceptible.

?üphesiz kalabal?klar, bir inanc?n yahut bir fikrin zaferi için kolayca canlar?n? fedaya kadar gidebilirler. Hemen hemen ekmeksiz ve silahs?z olarak Haçl? Seferleri esnas?nda oldu?u gibi, bir ilah?n mezar?n? tekrar ele geçirmek için, yahut 93'te oldu?u gibi vatan topraklar?n? savunmak için, harekete getirilirler. Elbette bu kahramanl?klar biraz ?uursuzdur, fakat tarih böyle kahramanl?klarla yap?l?r.

Medeniyetler ?imdiye kadar küçük bir fikir aristokrasisi taraf?ndan meydana getirilmi? ve idare olunmu?tur. Asla kitleler taraf?ndan de?il. Kalabal?klar yaln?z y?k?c? kuvvete sahiptirler.

An individual in a crowd is a grain of sand amid other grains of sand, which the wind stirs up at will.

Ng??i ta ?ã xây d?ng nhi?u ??n ?ài, nhi?u t??ng, nhi?u bàn th? nh?t cho nh?ng ng??i sáng t?o ra các ?o t??ng.(...) Không có ?o t??ng, con ng??i s? không th? thoát ra kh?i tình tr?ng dã man nguyên th?y, và n?u không còn chúng, con ng??i s? s?m r?i vào tình tr?ng ?y.