The tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny.

The tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny.

He who hangs on the errors of the ignorant multitude, must not be
counted among great men.
[Lat., read more

He who hangs on the errors of the ignorant multitude, must not be
counted among great men.
[Lat., Qui ex errore imperitae multitudinis pendet, hic in magnis
viris non est habendus.]

For who can be secure of private right,
If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might?
Nor read more

For who can be secure of private right,
If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might?
Nor is the people's judgment always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few.

Hence ye profane; I hate ye all;
Both the great vulgar, and the small.

Hence ye profane; I hate ye all;
Both the great vulgar, and the small.

I wish the crowd to feel itself well treated,
Especially since it lives and lets me live.
read more

I wish the crowd to feel itself well treated,
Especially since it lives and lets me live.
[Ger., Ich wunschte sehr, der Menge zu behagen,
Besonders weil sie lebt und leben lasst.]

This many-headed monster, Multitude.

This many-headed monster, Multitude.

The individual is foolish; the multitude, for the moment is
foolish, when they act without deliberation; but the species read more

The individual is foolish; the multitude, for the moment is
foolish, when they act without deliberation; but the species is
wise, and, when time is given to it, as a species it always acts
right.

It is a good part of sagacity to have known the foolish desires
of the crowd and their unreasonable read more

It is a good part of sagacity to have known the foolish desires
of the crowd and their unreasonable notions.
[Lat., Bona prudentiae pars est nosse stultas vulgi cupiditates,
et absurdas opiniones.]

The proverbial wisdom of the populace in the streets, on the
roads, and in the markets, instructs the ear read more

The proverbial wisdom of the populace in the streets, on the
roads, and in the markets, instructs the ear of him who studies
man more fully than a thousand rules ostentatiously arranged.