Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the
rule.
—Friedrich Nietzsche, 1888
Men […] go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
—Charles Mackay, 1841
When one goose drinks, all drink.
—German proverb
When people are free to do as we please, they usually imitate each other.
—Eric Hoffer, 1955
Where all men think alike, no one thinks very much.
—Walter Lippmann, 1915
You cannot make a man by standing a sheep on its hind-legs. But by standing a flock of
sheep in that position you can make a crowd of men.
—Max Beerbohm, 1911
He who has earned no name,
Nor strives for noble things,
Belongs just to the elements…
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1831
4
What men call social virtues, good fellowship, is commonly but the virtue of pigs in a litter,
which lie close together to keep each other warm.
—Henry David Thoreau, 1854
In an absolutely corrupt age, such as the one we are living in, the safest course is to do as
the others do.
—Marquis de Sade, 1795
Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise.
—Thomas Gray, 1742
***
To respect a sick age is to be in contempt of eternity.
—John Ciardi, 1962
It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
—Jiddu Krishnamurti, 1975
He who has an opinion of his own, but depends on the opinion and tastes of others is a
slave.
—Friedrich Gottleib Klopstock, 1774
4
From Part 2 of his Faust. (Translation by Walter Arndt).
On Society and Solitude, Liberty and Civilization
147
rule.
—Friedrich Nietzsche, 1888
Men […] go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
—Charles Mackay, 1841
When one goose drinks, all drink.
—German proverb
When people are free to do as we please, they usually imitate each other.
—Eric Hoffer, 1955
Where all men think alike, no one thinks very much.
—Walter Lippmann, 1915
You cannot make a man by standing a sheep on its hind-legs. But by standing a flock of
sheep in that position you can make a crowd of men.
—Max Beerbohm, 1911
He who has earned no name,
Nor strives for noble things,
Belongs just to the elements…
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1831
4
What men call social virtues, good fellowship, is commonly but the virtue of pigs in a litter,
which lie close together to keep each other warm.
—Henry David Thoreau, 1854
In an absolutely corrupt age, such as the one we are living in, the safest course is to do as
the others do.
—Marquis de Sade, 1795
Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise.
—Thomas Gray, 1742
***
To respect a sick age is to be in contempt of eternity.
—John Ciardi, 1962
It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
—Jiddu Krishnamurti, 1975
He who has an opinion of his own, but depends on the opinion and tastes of others is a
slave.
—Friedrich Gottleib Klopstock, 1774
4
From Part 2 of his Faust. (Translation by Walter Arndt).
On Society and Solitude, Liberty and Civilization
147