Philip Zimbardo Quotes

Quotes about:

Evil Giving Heroism Human Behavior Human Nature Humanity Morality

The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured by situational forces.

Philip Zimbardo

Hero, Evil, Lines

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If you put good apples into a bad situation, you’ll get bad apples.

Philip Zimbardo

Apples, Situation, Social Psychology

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We all like to think that the line between good and evil is impermeable--that people who do terrible things, such as commit murder, treason, or kidnapping, are on the evil side of this line, and the rest of us could never cross it. But the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Milgram studies revealed the permeability of that line. Some people are on the good side only because situations have never coerced or seduced them to cross over.

Philip Zimbardo

Thinking, Evil, People

"The Banality of Heroism" by Zeno Franco, Philip Zimbardo, greatergood.berkeley.edu. September 1, 2006.

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Bullies may be the perpetrators of evil, but it is the evil of passivity of all those who know what is happening and never intervene that perpetuates such abuse.

Philip Zimbardo

Passivity Is, Evil, Bully

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If you want to change a person, you've got to change the situation.

Philip Zimbardo

Want, Situation, Persons

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The greatest gift that you can give to others and to yourself is time. Embrace the gift of time whether you give it or receive it.

Philip Zimbardo

Giving, Embrace, Gift Of Time

Philip Zimbardo, John Boyd (2008). “The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life”, p.264, Simon and Schuster

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Bullies are often people who are shy and can't make friends easily, so, as the theme of the movie 'A Bronx Tale' tells us, it is better to be feared if you can't be loved.

Philip Zimbardo

People, Bully, Shy

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Heroism is the antidote to evil.

Philip Zimbardo

Evil, Heroism, Antidote

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The Devil's strategy for our times is to trivialize human existence and isolate us from one another while creating the delusion that the reasons are time pressures, work demands or economic anxieties.

Philip Zimbardo

Fear, Creating, Anxiety

"Best of the Century" by Albert Ellis, www.psychologytoday.com. November 1, 1999.

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Whether we consider Nazi Germany or Abu Ghraib prison, there were many people who observed what was happening and said nothing. At Abu Ghraib, one photo shows two soldiers smiling before a pyramid of naked prisoners while a dozen other soldiers stand around watching passively. If you observe such abuses and don't say, "This is wrong! Stop it!" you give tacit approval to continue. You are part of the silent majority that makes evil deeds more acceptable.

Philip Zimbardo

Two, Pyramids, Evil

"The Banality of Heroism" by Zeno Franco, Philip Zimbardo, greatergood.berkeley.edu. September 1, 2006.

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Our time is brief, and it will pass no matter what we do. So let us have purpose in spending it. Let us spend it so that our time matters to each of us, and matters to all those whose lives we touch.

Philip Zimbardo

Time, Purpose, Matter

Philip Zimbardo, John Boyd (2008). “The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life”, p.316, Simon and Schuster

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Evil is knowing better, but willingly doing worse.

Philip Zimbardo

Hero, Knowing Better, Evil

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Time is the backdrop of our lives and the very fabric of the cosmos.

Philip Zimbardo

Cosmos, Fabric, Backdrop

Philip Zimbardo, John Boyd (2008). “The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life”, p.68, Simon and Schuster

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To be a hero you have to learn to be a deviant — because you're always going against the conformity of the group.

Philip Zimbardo

Hero, Groups, Conformity

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Heroes are Ordinary People whose social action is Extra-Ordinary/ who ACT when others are passive, who give up EGO-centrism for SOCIO-centrism.

Philip Zimbardo

Giving Up, Hero, People

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Heroes are those who can somehow resist the power of the situation and act out of noble motives, or behave in ways that do not demean others when they easily can.

Philip Zimbardo

Hero, Power, Noble

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Sticks and stones can break your bones, but names can kill you.

Philip Zimbardo

Names, Stones, Sticks

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I'm saying to be a hero it means you step accross the line and are willing to make a sacrifice, so heroes always are making a sacrifice. Heroes always take a risk. Heroes always deviant. Heroes always doing something that most people don't and we want to change - I want to democratise heroism to say any of us can be a hero.

Philip Zimbardo

Hero, Mean, Sacrifice

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Depending on whom you ask, time is money, time is love, time is work, time is play, time is enjoying friends, time is raising children, and time is much more. Time is what you make of it.

Philip Zimbardo

Children, Play, More Time

Philip Zimbardo, John Boyd (2008). “The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life”, p.316, Simon and Schuster

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Bullying is an evil because it not only destroys the life of the kid who's bullied, but also makes everyone in the class who knows this is going on feel guilty for not doing anything.

Philip Zimbardo

Bullying, Kids, Class

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The "Lucifer Effect" describes the point in time when an ordinary, normal person first crosses the boundary between good and evil to engage in an evil action. It represents a transformation of human character that is significant in its consequences. Such transformations are more likely to occur in novel settings, in "total situations," where social situational forces are sufficiently powerful to overwhelm, or set aside temporally, personal attributes of morality, compassion, or sense of justice and fair play.

Philip Zimbardo

Powerful, Character, Compassion

"Who was Lucifer and how did he become the Devil?". 2007.

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Most of us fail to appreciate the extent to which our behavior is under situational control, because we prefer to believe that is all is internally generated. We wander around cloaked in an illusion of vulnerability, mis-armed with an arrogance of free will and rationality.

Philip Zimbardo

Believe, Appreciate, Arrogance

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As we have come to understand the psychology of evil, we have realized that such transformations of human character are not as rare as we would like to believe. Historical inquiry and behavioral science have demonstrated the "banality of evil" -- that is, under certain conditions and social pressures, ordinary people can commit acts that would otherwise be unthinkable.

Philip Zimbardo

Believe, Character, Evil

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Most of us hide behind egocentric biases that generate the illusion that we are special. These self-serving protective shields allow us to believe that each of us is above average on any test of self-integrity. Too often we look to the stars through the thick lens of personal invulnerability when we should also look down to the slippery slope beneath our feet.

Philip Zimbardo

Stars, Integrity, Believe

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... In contrast to the "banality of evil," which posits that ordinary people can be responsible for the most despicable acts of cruelty and degradation of their fellows, I posit the "banality of heroism," which unfurls the banner of the heroic Everyman and Everywoman who heed the call to service to humanity when their time comes to act. When that bell rings, they will know that it rings for them. It sounds a call to uphold what is best in human nature that rises above the powerful pressures of Situation and System as the profound assertion of human dignity opposing evil.

Philip Zimbardo

Powerful, Hero, People

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Born: March 23, 1933
Occupation: Psychologist
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