People still retain the errors of their childhood, their nation, and their age, long after they have accepted the truths needed to refute them. – Condorcet, Progress of the Human Mind, 1794

The public buys its opinions as it buys its meat, or takes in its milk, on the principle that it is cheaper to do this than to keep a cow. So it is, but the milk is more likely to be watered. – Samuel Butler, Notebooks, 1912

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other. – Eric Hoffer, Passionate State of Mind, 1955