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

We govern what the public think about.

The engineering of consent is the very essence of the democratic process, the freedom to persuade and suggest.

Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the inner cabinet.

Modern business must have its finger continuously on the public pulse. It must understand the changes in the public mind and be prepared to interpret itself fairly and eloquently to changing opinion.

If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway. But men do not need to be actually gathered together in a public meeting or in a street riot, to be subject to the influences of mass psychology. Because man is by nature gregarious he feels himself to be member of a herd, even when he is alone in his room with the curtains drawn.

In the ethical sense, propaganda bears the same relation to education as to business or politics. It may be abused. It may be used to over-advertise an institution and to create in the public mind artificial values. There can be no absolute guarantee against its misuse.