Stanley Milgram

"Authority is a psychological fact we cannot ignore."

"The experiment teaches us about the limits of individual moral strength."

"We must remain vigilant against the erosion of personal conscience."

"The experiment reveals the fragility of ethical behavior under pressure."

"The capacity for obedience has survival value. People tend to obey authority figures, even when asked to perform objectionable acts."

"Perhaps the most fundamental lesson we learn from studying obedience is that ordinary people are capable of committing extraordinary acts of cruelty."

"The social psychology of this century reveals a major lesson: often it is not so much the kind of person a man is as the kind of situation in which he finds himself that determines his conduct."

"A person may know that he is supposed to feel upset by the learner's agony, yet he may not feel upset at all."

"The legal and philosophic aspects of obedience are of enormous importance, but they say very little about how most people behave in concrete situations."

"I was disturbed by the very high levels of obedience I found in my experiments and wanted to understand it better."

"We are taught to think of ourselves as autonomous beings, yet in reality we are responsive to subtle environmental pressures."

"Authority doesn't come from a person's wisdom or morality, but from the position they occupy in a social structure."

"The experiments reveal the fragility of the moral fiber which we think of as being woven into the fabric of our nature."

"What is remarkable is how easily ordinary citizens can be brought to commit acts contrary to their basic moral training."

"The individual who is commanded to obey authority is absolved, in his own eyes, of responsibility for his actions."

"We must study not just extraordinary acts of evil, but the ordinary circumstances that breed them."

"Social structures have a powerful impact on individual behavior, often more than we realize."

"The tension between obedience and conscience is one of the most pressing moral problems of our time."

"People are willing to inflict harm on others when an authority figure takes responsibility for their actions."

"Understanding obedience requires us to look beyond individual personality and examine situational forces."

"The experiments demonstrated that destructive obedience can coexist with the subject's sense of moral decency."

"We need to understand the psychological mechanisms that allow people to overcome their empathy and compassion."

"Authority has a compelling force in human affairs that often overrides personal conscience."

"The most pressing moral question is not who is evil, but under what conditions ordinary people become capable of evil acts."

"Many people lack the courage to defy authority, even when moral principles are at stake."

"The structure of authority relationships can make otherwise decent people commit indecent acts."

"Obedience to authority is a deeply ingrained behavior, difficult to overcome even when awareness is present."

"The power of the situation often determines behavior more than personality traits or moral character."

"We must develop mechanisms to help people resist destructive authority and think independently."

"The experimenter's calm demeanor and assertion of responsibility had a powerful effect on subject compliance."