Stanley Milgram Quotes (7 Quotes)

The key to the behavior of subjects lies not in pent-up anger or aggression, but in the nature of their relationship to authority. They have given themselves to the authority they see themselves as instruments for the execution of his wishes once so defined, they are unable to break free.

The viewer is instructed by the narrator about exactly what to look for his comments reinforce the notion that what we are about to see will be funny. Studio laughter accompanies each episode as a way of continually defining the actions as funny, prompting the home viewer to experience the scene as amusing, rather than feeling sympathy or compassion for the victim's plight, or searching to understand it.

The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority.

The state produced in the laboratory may be likened to a light doze, compared to the profound slumber induced by the preponent authority system of a national government.

With numbing regularity, good people were seen to knuckle under the demands of authority and perform actions that were callous and severe,

It may be that we are puppets-puppets controlled by the strings of society. But at least we are puppets with perception, with awareness. And perhaps our awareness is the first step to our liberation.

It is easy to ignore responsibility when one is only an intermediate link in a chain of action.