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Joost Meerloo

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Famous Joost Meerloo Quotes

“The tension of a mysterious danger is even more unbearable than danger itself. People hate the vacuum of an unknown situation. They want security. They even prefer war to the insecure expectation of a war with its threat of enemy surprise. This vague fearful expectation acts on their fantasies. They anticipate all kinds of mysterious dangers; they begin to provoke them. It is the evocation of fear and danger in order to escape the tension of insecurity.”

PeopleWantKindWarHateOrderSituationEnemyFantasyAtheismSecurityDangerExpectationsThreatSurpriseAll KindsMysteriousTensionInsecurityFearfulProvokingVagueInsecureUnbearableAnticipateVacuums
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“If men can be made to understand that society, with its rigid codes and stratifications, is in its confused infancy rather than in the apex of its development; if they can be made to understand that the conflicts and contradictions of society can only be resolved by scientific long-range planning-then we will succeed in maintaining what civilization we have and drive onward to greater culture.”

IfsMenLongMadeCultureGreaterDevelopmentCivilizationSucceedConflictPlanningConfusionCodeRangeConfusedContradictionConfusingMaintainingInfancyApex
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“The flight from study and awareness is much too common in a world that throws too many confusing pictures to the individual. For the sake of our democracy, based on freedom and individualism, we have to bring ourselves back to study again and again. Otherwise, we can become easy victims of a well-planned verbal attack on our minds and our consciences.”

WorldMindWellsIndividualEasyFreedomCommonDemocracyStudyAwarenessConscienceVictimSakeIndividualityFlightIndividualismAgain And AgainConfusing
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“The continual intrusion into our minds of the hammering noises of arguments and propaganda can lead to two kinds of reactions. It may lead to apathy and indifference, the I-don't-care reaction, or to a more intensified desire to study and to understand. Unfortunately, the first reaction is the more popular one.”

MindFirstsKindMayTwoCareDesireDifferencesStudyArgumentDon't CareReactionsNoiseI Don't CarePropagandaIndifferenceApathyIntrusion
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“Ready made opinions can be distributed day by day through the press, radio, and so on, again and again, till they reach the nerve cell and implant a fixed pattern in the brain. Consequently, guided public opinion is the result, according to Pavlovian theoreticians, of good propaganda technique, and the polls [are] a verification of the temporary successful action of the Pavlovian machinations on the mind.”

MindMadeActionResultsBrainOpinionSuccessfulReadyPressesPatternsRadioTechniqueCellsPropagandaFixedTemporaryNervesAgain And AgainPublic OpinionPollsImplantsVerification
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“Between two beings there is always the barrier of words. Man has so many ears and speaks so many languages. Should it nevertheless be possible to understand one another? Is real communication possible if word and language betray us every time? Shall, in the end, only the language of tanks and guns prevail and not human reason and understanding?”

IfsMenShouldHumansTwoRealEndsReasonTimeSpeakLanguageUnderstandingCommunicationGunEarsBarriersBetrayNeverthelessTanksBeing ThereHuman Reason
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“He who dictates and formulates the words and phrases we use, he who is master of the press and radio, is master of the mind. Repeat mechanically your assumptions and suggestions, diminish the opportunity for communicating dissent and opposition. This is the formula for political conditioning of the masses.”

MindUsePoliticalOpportunityMastersMassPressesRadioCommunicatePhrasesRepeatsAssumptionOppositionFormulasSuggestionsDiminishDissentConditioning
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