Quotes by Philip G. Zimbardo

“Every evil starts with 15 volts.”

“Fear is the State's psychological weapon of choice to frighten citizens into sacrificing their basic freedoms and rule-of-law protections in exchange for the security promised by their all-powerful...”

“Western societies want men to be upstanding, proactive citizens who take responsibility for themselves, who work with others to improve their communities and nation as a whole. The irony is that so...”

“Majority decisions tend to be made without engaging the systematic thought and critical thinking skills of the individuals in the group. Given the force of the group's normative power to shape the ...”

“Sticks and stones can break your bones, but names can kill you.”

“Being hurt personally triggered a curiosity about how such beliefs are formed.”

“We want to believe in the essential, unchanging goodness of people, in their power to resist external pressures, in their rational appraisal and then rejection of situational temptations. We invest...”

“We have nothing against playing video games; they have many good features and benefits. Our concern is that when they are played to excess, especially in social isolation, they can hinder a young m...”

“Before I knew that a man could kill a man, because it happens all the time. Now I know that even the person with whom you've shared food, or whom you've slept, even he can kill you with no trouble....”

“Heroes are those who can somehow resist the power of the situation and act out of noble motives, or behave in ways that do not demean others when they easily can.”

“If you put good apples into a bad situation, youll get bad apples.”

“The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured by situational forces.”

“The level of shyness has gone up dramatically in the last decade. I think shyness is an index of social pathology rather than a pathology of the individual.”

“Human behavior is incredibly pliable, plastic.”

“Time perspective is one of the most powerful influences on all of human behavior. We're trying to show how people become biased to being exclusively past-, present- or future-oriented.”

“I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do d...”

“Situational variables can exert powerful influences over human behavior, more so that we recognize or acknowledge.”

“One can't live mindfully without being enmeshed in psychological processes that are around us.”

“If you put good apples into a bad situation, you’ll get bad apples.”