The lower Sort of Men must be indulged the Consolation of finding fault with those above them; without that, they would be so melancholy, that it would be dangerous, considering their Numbers.
They are too many to be told of their Mistakes, and for that Reason they are never to be cured of them.
The Body of the People are generally either so dead that they cannot move, or so mad that they cannot be reclaimed: to be neither all in a Flame, nor quite cold, requireth more Reason than great Numbers can ever attain.
The People can seldom agree to move together against a Government, but they can to sit still and let it be undone.
Those that will be Martyrs for the People, must expect to be repayed only by their Vanity, or their Virtue.
A Man that will head the Mob is like a Bull let loose, tyed about with Squibs and Crackers.
He must be half mad that goeth about it, yet at sometimes shall be too hard for all the wise Men in a Kingdom: For though good Sense speaketh against Madness, yet it is out of Countenance whenever it meets it.
It would be a greater Reproach to the People that their Favour is short-liv’d, if their Malice was not so too.
The Thoughts of the People have no regular Motion, they come out by Starts.
There is an accumulative Cruelty in a number of Men, though none in particular are ill-natured.