The mind of the people is like mud, from which arise strange and beautiful things. – W. J. Turner

The time when most of you should withdraw into yourself is when you are forced to be in a crowd. – Epicurus

Leave this hypocritical prating about the masses. Masses are rude, lame, unmade, pernicious in their demands and influence, and need not to be flattered, but to be schooled. I wish not to concede anything to them, but to tame, drill, divide, and break them up, and draw individuals out of them. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nothing is so contemptible as the sentiments of the mob. – Seneca (Seneca the Elder)