Bertrand RussellNeither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.
About This Quote
When people feel they are facing a life or death situation, they often begin to act in ways that they would never normally do. They become unhinged and do things that they would normally overlook. A common example of this is the fear of terrorists. When we hear an airplane crash and turn on the news and see images of dead bodies and injured people, our minds immediately go into survival mode.
The human mind has a hard time dealing with something that is so horrible that it cant see the present in any other way. No one can be trusted to act in a humane way when under the influence of this type of fear.
Source: Unpopular Essays
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