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d72a86f
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Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one.
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madness
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Charles MacKay |
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5177284
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Let us not, in the pride of our superior knowledge, turn with contempt from the follies of our predecessors. The study of the errors into which great minds have fallen in the pursuit of truth can never be uninstructive. As the man looks back to the days of his childhood and his youth, and recalls to his mind the strange notions and false opinions that swayed his actions at the time, that he may wonder at them; so should society, for its edi..
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history-of-mankind
reflection
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Charles MacKay |
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5deef2d
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In reading The History of Nations, we find that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities, their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more capti..
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madness
hysteria
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Charles MacKay |
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b7fb81c
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Three causes especially have excited the discontent of mankind; and, by impelling us to seek remedies for the irremediable, have bewildered us in a maze of madness and error. These are death, toil, and the ignorance of the future..
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madness
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Charles MacKay |
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7f9804f
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We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first.
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Charles MacKay |
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a8821ef
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Many persons grow insensibly attached to that which gives them a great deal of trouble, as a mother often loves her sick and ever-ailing child better than her more healthy offspring.
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Charles MacKay |
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5d361a2
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Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
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Charles MacKay |
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3b32480
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Nations, like individuals, cannot become desperate gamblers with impunity. Punishment is sure to overtake them sooner or later.
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Charles MacKay |
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020b15f
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In February 1720 an edict was published, which, instead of restoring the credit of the paper, as was intended, destroyed it irrecoverably, and drove the country to the very brink of revolution...
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Charles MacKay |
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f065033
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During seasons of great pestilence men have often believed the prophecies of crazed fanatics, that the end of the world was come. Credulity is always greatest in times of calamity. Prophecies of all sorts are rife on such occasions, and are readily believed, whether for good or evil. During the great plague, which ravaged all Europe, between the years 1345 and 1350, it was generally considered that the end of the world was at hand. Pretende..
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Charles Mackay |
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10fdac3
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An enthusiastic philosopher, of whose name we are not informed, had constructed a very satisfactory theory on some subject or other, and was not a little proud of it. "But the facts, my dear fellow," said his friend, "the facts do not agree with your theory."--"Don't they?" replied the philosopher, shrugging his shoulders, "then, ;"--so much the worse for the facts!"
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theory
philosophy
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Charles Mackay |
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31293d2
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Much as the sage may affect to despise the opinion of the world, there are few who would not rather expose their lives a hundred times than be condemned to live on, in society, but not of it - a by-word of reproach to all who know their history, and a mark for scorn to point his finger at.
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Charles MacKay |
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fa9f797
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Injury was aggravated by insult, and insult was embittered by pleasantry.
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Charles Mackay |
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8d08eff
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Thus did they nurse their folly, as the good wife of Tam O'Shanter did her wrath, "to keep it warm."
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Charles MacKay |
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2811ead
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What a shocking bad hat!' was the phrase that was next in vogue. No sooner had it become universal, than thousands of idle but sharp eyes were on the watch for the passenger whose hat shewed any signs, however slight, of ancient service. Immediately the cry arose, and, like the war-whoop of the Indians, was repeated by a hundred discordant throats. He was a wise man who, finding himself under these circumstances 'the observed of all observe..
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insult
hats
mocking
nervousness
hat
shame
london
mockery
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Charles Mackay |
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b054ccb
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We all pay an involuntary homage to antiquity - a "blind homage," as Bacon calls it in his "Novum Organum," which tends greatly to the obstruction of truth. To the great majority of mortal eyes, Time sanctifies everything that he does not destroy. The mere fact of anything being spared by the great foe makes it a favourite with us, who are sure to fall his victims."
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Charles Mackay |
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564ab2a
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Credulity is always greatest in times of calamity.
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Charles Mackay |
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383cc0b
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Cleon hath a million acres,-- ne'er a one have I; Cleon dwelleth in a palace, -- in a cottage I.
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Charles Mackay |
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ed4a7a7
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Old Tubal Cain was a man of might In the days when earth was young.
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Charles Mackay |