The art of those who govern consists above all in the science of employing words.

A crowd is not merely impulsive and mobile. Like a savage, it is not prepared to admit that anything can come between its desire and the realisation of its desire.

The beginning of a revolution is in reality the end of a belief.

Crowds are influenced mainly by images produced by the judicious employment of words and formulas

The influence of the leaders is due in very small measure to the arguments they employ, but in a large degree to their prestige. The best proof of this is that, should they by any circumstance lose their prestige, their influence disappears.

One of the most constant characteristics of beliefs is their intolerance. The stronger the belief, the greater its intolerance. Men dominated by a certitude cannot tolerate those who do not accept it.

Are the worst enemies of society those who attack it or those who do not even give themselves the trouble of defending it?