“The convictions of the masses always tend to assume a religious form. The masses are devoid equally of scepticism and of the critical spirit. The political, social, or religious creed accepted by them is always adopted without discussion, and fervently venerated.
The success of a belief depends not at all on the proportion of truth or error it may contain, but only on the sentiments it evokes and the devotion it inspires. The history of all beliefs is a manifest proof of this.”
“In order to comprehend the present force of Socialism it must be considered above all as a belief, and we then discover it to be founded on a very secure psychologic basis. It matters very little to its immediate success that it may be contrary to social and economic necessities. The history of all beliefs, and especially of religious beliefs, sufficiently proves that their success has most often been entirely independent of the proportion of truth that they might contain.”
The Psychology of Socialism – Gustave Le Bon
PDF version FULL BOOK: http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/lebon/socialism.pdf
