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Public Opinion
| Quote | Source | Page | Subject |
|---|---|---|---|
| Governments cannot free themselves from the pressure of public opinion. They cannot rebel against the preponderance of generally accepted ideologies, however fallacious. But this does not excuse the officeholders who could resign rather than carry out policies disastrous for the country. | Human Action | p. 787; p. 793 | Public Opinion |
| History provides an abundance of striking examples to show that, in the long run, even the most ruthless policy of repression does not suffice to maintain a government in power. | Liberalism | p. 45 | Public Opinion |
| In the long run no government can maintain itself in power if it does not have public opinion behind it, i.e., if those governed are not convinced that the government is good. | Liberalism | p. 41 | Public Opinion |
| In the long run there cannot be any such thing as an unpopular system of government. | Human Action | p. 859; p. 863 | Public Opinion |
| No ruler who lacks the gift of persuasion can stay in office long; it is the indispensable condition of government. It would be an idle illusion to assume that any government, no matter how good, could lastingly do without public consent. | Omnipotent Government | p. 119 | Public Opinion |
| Only a group that can count on the consent of the governed can establish a lasting regime. Whoever wants to see the world governed according to his own ideas must strive for domination over mens minds. It is impossible, in the long run, to subject men against their will to a regime that they reject. | Liberalism | p. 46 | Public Opinion |
| The flowering of human society depends on two factors: the intellectual power of outstanding men to conceive sound social and economic theories, and the ability of these or other men to make these ideologies palatable to the majority. | Human Action | p. 860; p. 864 | Public Opinion |
| The masses favor socialism because they trust the socialist propaganda of the intellectuals. The intellectuals, not the populace, are molding public opinion. | Planned Chaos | p. 90 | Public Opinion |
| The masses, the hosts of common men, do not conceive any ideas, sound or unsound. They only choose between the ideologies developed by the intellectual leaders of mankind. But their choice is final and determines the course of events. If they prefer bad doctrines, nothing can prevent disaster. | Human Action | p. 860; p. 864 | Public Opinion |
| The minority that desires to see its ideas triumph must strive by intellectual means to become the majority. | Liberalism | p. 59 | Public Opinion |