What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?

What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?

Don't ask the barber whether you need a haircut.

Don't ask the barber whether you need a haircut.

Every man's ability may be strengthened or increased by culture.

Every man's ability may be strengthened or increased by culture.

Any good practical philosophy must start out with the recognition of our having a body.

Any good practical philosophy must start out with the recognition of our having a body.

Anyone taken as an individual, is tolerably sensible and reasonable- as a member of a crowd, he at once becomes read more

Anyone taken as an individual, is tolerably sensible and reasonable- as a member of a crowd, he at once becomes a blockhead.

The vigor of a mass movement stems from the propensity of its followers for united action and self-sacrifice. When we read more

The vigor of a mass movement stems from the propensity of its followers for united action and self-sacrifice. When we ascribe the success of a movement to its faith, doctrine, propaganda, leadership, ruthlessness and so on, we are but referring to instruments of unification and to means used to inculcate a readiness for self-sacrifice. It is perhaps impossible to understand the nature of a mass movement unless it is recognized that their chief preoccupation is to foster, perfect and perpetuate a facility for united action and self-sacrifice.

There is a fundamental difference between the appeal of a mass movement and the appeal of a practical organization. The read more

There is a fundamental difference between the appeal of a mass movement and the appeal of a practical organization. The practical organization offers opportunities for self-advancement, and its appeal is mainly to self-interest. On the other hand, a mass movement, particularly in its active, revivalist phase, appeals not to those intent on bolstering and advancing a cherished self, but to those who crave to be rid of an unwanted self. A mass movement attracts and holds a following not because it can satisfy the desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy the passion for self-renunciation.

Every politician, clergyman, educator, or physician, in short, anyone dealing with human individuals, is bound to make grave mistakes if read more

Every politician, clergyman, educator, or physician, in short, anyone dealing with human individuals, is bound to make grave mistakes if he ignores these two great truths of population zoology: (1) no two individuals are alike, and (2) both environment and genetic endowment make a contribution to nearly every trait.

The biggest mischief in the past century has been perpetrated by Rousseau with his doctrine of the goodness of human read more

The biggest mischief in the past century has been perpetrated by Rousseau with his doctrine of the goodness of human nature. The mob and the intellectuals derived from it the vision of a Golden Age which would arrive without fail once the noble human race could act according to its whims.