Philip Zimbardo

“I was discriminated against because I was Jewish, Italian, black and Puerto Rican. But maybe the worst prejudice I experienced was against the poor. I grew up on welfare and often had to move in the middle of the night because we couldn't pay the rent.”

“Careers in virtually all academic disciplines are fostered by being a superstar who knows more about one subject than anyone else in the world.”

“What happens when good people are put into an evil place? Do they triumph or does the situation dominate their past history and morality?”

“Ideas for my first experiments in human aggression came from discussions we had in a research seminar about William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies.'”

“Academic success depends on research and publications.”

“Human behavior is incredibly pliable, plastic.”

“יש לי הרבה חברים טובים ותלמידים לשעבר בישראל, וסימפטיה עצומה למצב הקשה שישראלים נתונים בו.”

“השינוי הזה של האופי האנושי הוא מה שאני מכנה 'אפקט לוציפר', על שם המלאך האהוב על אלוהים, לוציפר, שנפל מגן העדן ובסופו של דבר הפך לשטן. עם זאת, במקום לספק ניתוח דתי, אני מציע תיאור פסיכולוגי של האופן שבו אנשים רגילים הופכים לפעמים לרשעים ומבצעים מעשים שאין לתאר.”

“המשפחה שלי באה מסיציליה, וזו תרבות שחיה בהווה ובעבר. בדיאלקט הסיצילאני אין פועל עתיד, יש was ו־is, אבל אין will be. כשאפילו השפה אינה תומכת בהדמיית העתיד, קשה להטמיע את תוצאות מעשיך לטווח הרחוק.”

“גבורה אמיתית משמעותה תמיד להתגבר על המצב הנוכחי, לראות מעבר לנורמה החברתית המקובלת.”

“יש לנו אשליה שהקו בין רע לטוב הוא בלתי עביר. בצד אחד ניצבים האנשים הרעים ובצד השני, הטוב, אנו ומשפחותינו וחברינו. מחקרים פסיכולוגיים מראים שזו אשליה.”

“אידאולוגיה היא סיסמה או הצעה שנותנת לגיטימציה לכל האמצעים הדרושים להשגת המטרה הסופית.”

“Many cults start off with high ideals that get corrupted by leaders or their board of advisors who become power-hungry and dominate and control members' lives. No group with high ideals starts off as a 'cult'; they become one when their errant ways are exposed.”

“At North Hollywood High School, I was shunned by everyone. I would sit down in the cafeteria, and students would get up from the table and walk away. They thought I was from the Mafia.”

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

“A good cult delivers on its promises. A good cult nourishes the needs of its members, has transparency and integrity, and creates provisions for challenging its leadership openly. A good cult expands the freedoms and well-being of its members rather than limits them.”

“I'm saying to be a hero is means you step across 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.”

“After doing psychology for half a century, my passion for all of it is greater than ever.”

“I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?”

“The level of shyness has gone up dramatically in the last decade. I think shyness is an index of social pathology rather than a pathology of the individual.”