Mastodawn

“Every age has its peculiar folly; some scheme, project, or phantasy into which it plunges, spurred on either by the love of gain, the necessity of excitement, or the mere force of imitation. Failing in these, it has some madness, to which it is goaded by political or religious causes, or both combined.” — Charles Mackay, Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
#BOTD #CharlesMackay #Quotation #Quote #QOTD #Folly

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Quote of the Day

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WIST Quotations Has Moved!Nov 4

A quotation from Charles Mackay

Cannon-balls may aid the truth,
But thought’s a weapon stronger;
We’ll win our battles by its aid; —
Wait a little longer.

Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Poem (1846-01-22), “The Good Time Coming,” st. 1, London Daily News

More info about this quote: wist.info/mackay-charles/79867…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #charlesmackay #enlightenment #force #progress #reason #struggle #thought #truth #violence #weapon

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Oct 27

A quotation from Charles Mackay

The smallest effort is not lost,
   Each wavelet on the ocean tost
Aids in the ebb-tide or the flow;
   Each rain-drop makes some floweret blow;
   Each struggle lessens human woe.

Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Poem (1856?), “The Old and the New,” st. 45, Ballads and Lyrical Poems

More info about this quote: wist.info/mackay-charles/80003…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #charlesmackay #assistance #contribution #effort #help #progress

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Oct 20

A quotation from Charles Mackay

Keep, Galileo, to thy thought,
   And nerve thy soul to bear;
They may gloat o’er the senseless words they wring
   From the pangs of thy despair:
They may veil their eyes, but they cannot hide
   The sun’s meridian glow;
The heel of a priest may tread thee down,
   And a tyrant work thee woe;
But never a truth has been destroyed:
   They may curse it, and call it crime;
Pervert and betray, or slander and slay
   Its teachers for a time.
But the sunshine aye shall light the sky,
   As round and round we run;
And the truth shall ever come uppermost,
   And justice shall be done.

Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Poem (1847), “Eternal Justice,” st. 4

More info about this quote: wist.info/mackay-charles/79828…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #charlesmackay #censorship #freedomofthought #inevitability #justice #repression #science #silencing #truth #tyranny

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Oct 13

A quotation from Charles Mackay

The prophecies of Nostradamus consist of upwards of a thousand stanzas, each of four lines, and are to the full as obscure as the oracles of old. They take so great a latitude, both as to time and space, that they are almost sure to be fulfilled somewhere or other in the course of a few centuries.

Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, “Fortune-Telling” (1841)

More info about this quote: wist.info/mackay-charles/79638…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #charlesmackay #ambiguity #oracle #prediction #prognostication #prophecy #vagueness

Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, "Fortune-Telling" (1841) - Mackay, Charles | WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Oct 6

A quotation from Charles Mackay

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.

Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, “Modern Prophecies” (1841)

More info about this quote: wist.info/mackay-charles/79500…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #charlesmackay #believer #truebeliever #belief #chaos #credulity #danger #disaster #endoftheworld #prediction #prophecy

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Sep 29

A quotation from Charles Mackay

The intrigues of unworthy courtiers to gain the favour of still more unworthy kings, or the records of murderous battles and sieges, have been dilated on, and told over and over again, with all the eloquence of style and all the charms of fancy; while the circumstances which have most deeply affected the morals and welfare of the people have been passed over with but slight notice, as dry and dull, and capable of neither warmth nor colouring.

Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, “The South-Sea Bubble” (1841)

More info about this quote: wist.info/mackay-charles/79366…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #charlesmackay #historiography #history #intrigue #sensationalism #socialhistory #politicalhistory

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Sep 22, 2025

A quotation from Charles Mackay

Nations, like individuals, cannot become desperate gamblers with impunity. Punishment is sure to overtake them sooner or later.

Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, “The South-Sea Bubble” (1841)

More info about this quote: wist.info/mackay-charles/79186…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #charlesmackay #downfall #gambling #inevitability #nation #nationalsecurity #punishment #risktaking

Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, "The South-Sea Bubble" (1841) - Mackay, Charles | WIST Quotations

Nations, like individuals, cannot become desperate gamblers with impunity. Punishment is sure to overtake them sooner or later.

WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Sep 15, 2025

A quotation from Charles Mackay

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.

Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Preface (1841)

More info about this quote: wist.info/mackay-charles/78848…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #charlesmackay #herd #humannature #humanity #madness #masshysteria #masses #mob

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Sep 8, 2025

A quotation from Charles Mackay

Every age has its peculiar folly; some scheme, project, or phantasy into which it plunges, spurred on either by the love of gain, the necessity of excitement, or the mere force of imitation. Failing in these, it has some madness, to which it is goaded by political or religious causes, or both combined.

Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, “The Crusades” (1841)

More info about this quote: wist.info/mackay-charles/78827…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #charlesmackay #craziness #delusion #era #fad #frenzy #history #humannature #madness #masshysteria #masses #craze