Stanley Milgram

"The context of authority creates a kind of deindividuation that allows people to transcend their own moral systems."

"One of the most important implications of these studies is that they create a climate where individuals can feel comfortable behaving in harmful ways."

"The experimenter seated in his white lab coat embodied the kind of scientific authority that compels obedience in most people."

"What we have discovered is that under the right circumstances, almost anyone will do almost anything."

"The critical question is not whether people are good or evil, but under what conditions they behave one way or the other."

"Responsibility doesn't disappear; it transforms into a kind of diffused accountability."

"Society depends on consensus, but that consensus can be manipulated through authority structures."

"The prods used by the experimenter—'You must continue' and 'You have no choice'—were remarkably effective."

"Distance from the learner increased obedience rates dramatically."

"The confederate's screams mattered less to most subjects than the experimenter's quiet insistence."

"Authority, once established, becomes self-perpetuating through the acceptance of its legitimacy."

"People tend to believe that acts carried out under orders are somehow less their responsibility."

"The shock levels increased in fifteen-volt increments, almost imperceptibly escalating harm."

"Psychological research must sometimes venture into uncomfortable terrain to illuminate human behavior."

"The banality of evil is not that evil people do evil things, but that ordinary people do evil things under ordinary circumstances."

"Subjects were not sadistic; they were simply obedient."

"The white coat of the experimenter conveyed scientific legitimacy and moral authority."

"Personality inventories failed to predict who would obey and who would resist."

"We are all potentially capable of the same degree of obedience or disobedience depending on the situation."

"The presence of another person who questions the authority can dramatically reduce obedience."

"Authority is not inherent in the person but constructed through context and symbols."

"In our studies, the emotional strain was evident, yet subjects continued to follow orders."

"The individual enters a state where he no longer views himself as responsible for his actions."

"Social hierarchies are maintained through the willingness to submit to authority."

"Every act of obedience contains a potential act of destruction."

"The experimenter's authority rested not on force but on the assumption of legitimacy."

"People are capable of enormous flexibility in their moral judgments when placed in authority structures."

"What struck me most was how little it took to produce obedience in a democratic society."

"The learner's protests were overshadowed by the experimenter's assertions of responsibility."

"In the end, the study revealed more about ourselves than about obedience or disobedience."