Elias Canetti - Crowds and Power (1983)

8 Sourced Quotes

View all Elias Canetti Quotes
The fear of burglars is not only the fear of being robbed, but also the fear of a sudden and unexpected clutch out of the darkness.

Elias Canetti
There is nothing that man fears more than the touch of the unknown.

Elias Canetti
Rulers who want to unleash war know very well that they must procure or invent a first victim.

Elias Canetti
Justice requires that everyone should have enough to eat. But it also requires that everyone should contribute to the production of food.

Elias Canetti
Justice begins with the recognition of the necessity of sharing.

Elias Canetti
It is only in a crowd that man can become free of this fear of being touched. That is the only situation in which the fear changes into its opposite… The reversal of fear of being touched belongs to the nature of crowds. The feeling of relief is most striking where the density of the crowd is greatest

Elias Canetti
It is always the enemy who started it, even if he was not the first to speak out, he was certainly planning it; and if he was not actually planning it, he was thinking of it; and, if he was not thinking of it, he would have thought of it.

Elias Canetti
The paranoiac is the exact image of the ruler. The only difference is their position in the world. One might even think the paranoiac the more impressive of the two because he is sufficient unto himself and cannot be shaken by failure.

Elias Canetti