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Friday 3 April 2015

An utterly unstable line of conduct



In the past, and in no very distant past, the action of governments and the influence of a few writers and a very small number of newspapers constituted the real reflectors of public opinion. To-day the writers have lost all influence, and the newspapers only reflect opinion. As for statesmen, far from directing opinion, their only endeavour is to follow it. They have a dread of opinion, which amounts at times to terror, and causes them to adopt an utterly unstable line of conduct.

Gustave Le Bon - The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind (1895)

An utterly unstable line of conduct eh? That's encouraging isn't it?

2 comments:

Demetrius said...

1966 The Kinks "Dedicated follower of fashion". Le Bon was ahead of his time.

A K Haart said...

Demetrius - he was, although I don't think these things have changed much really.