We can assume that most people, most of the time, are moral creatures. But imagine that this morality is like a gearshift that at times gets pushed into neutral. When that happens, morality is disengaged. If the car happens to be on an incline, car and driver move precipitously downhill. It is then the nature of the circumstances that determines outcomes, not the driver's skills or intentions.


The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil (ed. Random House, 2007) - ISBN: 9781588365873

Philip Zimbardo Quotes

We can assume that most people, most of the time, are moral creatures. But imagine that this morality is like a gearshift that at times gets pushed...

We can assume that most people, most of the time, are moral creatures. But imagine that this morality is like a gearshift that at times gets pushed...

We can assume that most people, most of the time, are moral creatures. But imagine that this morality is like a gearshift that at times gets pushed...

We can assume that most people, most of the time, are moral creatures. But imagine that this morality is like a gearshift that at times gets pushed...