Quotes from Edward Bernays

In some departments of our daily life, in which we imagine ourselves free agents, we are ruled by dictators exercising great power.

The systematic study of mass psychology revealed to students the potentialities of invisible government of society by manipulation of the motives which actuate man in the group.

Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.

The best defense against propaganda: more propaganda.

It is sometimes possible to change the attitudes of millions but impossible to change the attitude of one man.

If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it.

In almost every act of our lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons [...] who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires that control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world.

A single factory, potentially capable of supplying a whole continent with its particular product, cannot afford to wait until the public asks for its product; it must maintain constant touch, through advertising and propaganda, with the vast public in order to assure itself the continuous demand which alone will make its costly plant profitable.

In theory, everybody buys the best and cheapest commodities offered to him on the market. In practice, if every one went around pricing, and chemically testing before purchasing, the dozens of soaps or fabrics or brands of bread which are for sale, economic life would become hopelessly jammed.

The best place to find things: the public library.

For the same reason I read the National Geographic, I like to see places I will never visit.

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society… We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.

We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.

Propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government.

The history of the industrial revolution shows how that power passed from the king and the aristocracy to the bourgeoisie. Universal suffrage and universal schooling reinforced this tendency, and at last even the bourgeoisie stood in fear of the com- mon people. For the masses promised to become king.

The three main elements of public relations are practically as old as society: informing people, persuading people, or integrating people with people. Of course, the means and methods of accomplishing these ends have changed as society has change. -Public Relations (1952)

men are very largely actuated by motives which they conceal from themselves…It is evident that the successful propagandist must understand the true motives and not be content to accept the reasons which men give for what they do.

It is axiomatic that men who know little are often intolerant of a point of view that is contrary to their own. The bitterness that has been brought about by arguments on public questions is proverbial. Lovers have been parted by bitter quarrels on theories of pacificism or militarism; and when an argument upon an abstract question engages opponents they often desert the main line of arguments in order to abuse each other.

Does not mean merely a physical aggregation of a number of persons…the crowd is rather a state of mind.

The normal school should provide for the training of the educator to make him realize that his is a twofold job: education as a teacher and education as a propagandist.

People want to go where they wanted to be led.

We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.

Men (people) are rarely aware of the real reasons which motivate their actions.

The great enemy of any attempt to change men's habits is inertia. Civilization is limited by intertia.