We are dominated by the relatively small number of persons who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.
Edward BernaysRead
If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Influencing leaders can lead to broader influence over their followers.
This quote highlights the power of influence in leadership dynamics. By affecting those in positions of authority, whether they are aware of it or not, one can extend this influence to the wider group they lead. It underscores the importance of understanding the mechanisms of persuasion and the role that leaders play in shaping the opinions and actions of their followers.
Themes
InfluenceLeadersPowerPersuasionGroup Dynamics
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a leadership seminar to emphasize the importance of influencing key decision-makers.
More from Edward Bernays
All quotes βThe invisible government tends to be concentrated in the hands of the few because of the expense of manipulating the social machinery which controls the opinions and habits of the masses. To advertise on a scale which will reach fifty million persons is expensive. To reach and persuade the group leaders who dictate the public's thoughts and actions is likewise expensive.
Edward BernaysRead
Any person or organization depends ultimately on public approval, and is therefore faced with the problem of engineering the public's consent to a program or goal.
Edward BernaysRead
No serious sociologist any longer believes that the voice of the people expresses any divine or specially wise and lofty idea. The voice of the people expresses the mind of the people, and that mind is made up for it by the group leaders in whom it believes and by those persons who understand the manipulation of public opinion. It is composed of inherited prejudices and symbols and clichΓ©s and verbal formulas supplied to them by the leaders.
Edward BernaysRead
We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.
Edward BernaysRead
Men (people) are rarely aware of the real reasons which motivate their actions.
Edward BernaysRead
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