--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Mass democracy, mass morality and the…" description: "\"Mass democracy, mass morality and the mass media thrive independently of the individual, who joins them only at the cost of at least a partial perversi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/112/al-alvarez-21402_character_mass-democracy-mass-morality-and-the-mas_3175638.jpg" --- # Mass democracy, mass morality and the mass media thrive… ![“Mass democracy, mass morality and the mass media thrive independently of the individual, who joins them only at the cost of at least a partial perversion of his instincts and insights. He pays for his social ease with what used to be called his soul - his discriminations, his uniqueness, his…” quote by Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/112/al-alvarez-21402_character_mass-democracy-mass-morality-and-the-mas_3175638.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/112/al-alvarez-21402_character_mass-democracy-mass-morality-and-the-mas_3175638.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/112/al-alvarez-21402_character_mass-democracy-mass-morality-and-the-mas_3175638.jpg) > “Mass democracy, mass morality and the mass media thrive independently of the individual, who joins them only at the cost of at least a partial perversion of his instincts and insights. He pays for his social ease with what used to be called his soul - his discriminations, his uniqueness, his psychic energy, his self.” [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society’s mass institutions erode personal authenticity, demanding sacrifice of individuality for conformity. **In simple terms:** Mass institutions diminish personal uniqueness. Key Takeaway Guard your individuality against collective pressure. Themes individuality conformity media morality democracy Mood reflective critical Type philosophical social commentary When to use this quote - political activism - personal decision - media consumption - community building Key Concepts psychology social influence ethical autonomy Questions to Reflect On - How do you maintain personal values within mass culture? - What costs are you willing to pay for social ease? A Different Perspective Mass institutions can also provide support and solidarity, not just erosion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Cost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cost/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Democracy Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy-mass-5797546/) [Discrimination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discrimination/) [Ease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ease/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Insight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insight/) [Instinct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinct/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Mass Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass-democracy-986458/) [Mass media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass-media/) [Mass Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass-morality-5797545/) [Media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/media/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Morality Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality-mass-5797547/) [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) [Perversion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perversion/) [Psychics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychics/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Thrive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thrive/) [Uniqueness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uniqueness/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) [Used to be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used-to-be/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [The root of democracy is in mass education. This foundation becomes stronger, when the citizens of tomorrow, our children are also educated about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-root-of-democracy-is-in-mass-education-this-foundation-becomes/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Mass democracy guarantees stupidity. Masses of people, even if they're individually intelligent, can only act stupidly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/mass-democracy-guarantees-stupidity-masses-of-people-even-if-they-re/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [Liberal education reminds those members of a mass democracy who have ears to hear, of human greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-strauss/liberal-education-reminds-those-members-of-a-mass-democracy-who-have/) [Leo Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-strauss/) > [“Perversion is an ends-and-purposes disease. 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The effects of its abuse are totally distinct from those of other stimulants.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/what-is-it-in-absinthe-that-makes-it-a-separate-cult-the-effects-of/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Does the terror threat we're facing grow out of a perversion of Islam, or does it represent and extreme, but durable, strain of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-todd/does-the-terror-threat-we-re-facing-grow-out-of-a-perversion-of-islam/) [Chuck Todd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-todd/) > [Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/unfortunately-there-is-nothing-more-inane-than-an-easter-carol-it-is/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Western civilisation needs a complete overhaul or it will fall apart one day or another. It has realised the most complete perversion of any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-evola/western-civilisation-needs-a-complete-overhaul-or-it-will-fall-apart/) [Julius Evola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-evola/) > [High culture is nothing but a child of that European perversion called history, the obsession we have with going forward, with considering the sequence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/high-culture-is-nothing-but-a-child-of-that-european-perversion/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [The craving to risk death is our last great perversion. We come from night, we go into night. Why live in night?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-craving-to-risk-death-is-our-last-great-perversion-we-come-from/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“he'd been a cop long enough to know what actual perversion looked like and it sure wasn't two guys or two women going out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tere-michaels/he-d-been-a-cop-long-enough-to-know-what-actual-perversion-looked/) [Tere Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tere-michaels/) > [The true forms of government, therefore, are those in which the one, or the few, or the many, govern with a view to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-true-forms-of-government-therefore-are-those-in-which-the-one-or/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## More by Al Alvarez > [I absolutely don't believe in anything. Full stop. Including luck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/i-absolutely-don-t-believe-in-anything-full-stop-including-luck/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [“I balanced all, brought all to mind, The years to come seemed waste of breath, A waste of breath the years behind In balance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/i-balanced-all-brought-all-to-mind-the-years-to-come-seemed-waste-of/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [Despair, in short, seeks its own environment as surely as water finds its own level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/despair-in-short-seeks-its-own-environment-as-surely-as-water-finds/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [“Suicide is, after all, the result of a choice. However impulsive the action and confused the motives, at the moment when a man finally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/suicide-is-after-all-the-result-of-a-choice-however-impulsive-the/) [Al Álvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [When you make a bet, you're saying something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/when-you-make-a-bet-you-re-saying-something/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [Twentieth-century art may start with nothing, but it flourishes by virtue of its belief in itself, in the possibility of control over what seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/twentieth-century-art-may-start-with-nothing-but-it-flourishes-by/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [Each sporadic burst of work, each minor success and disappointment, each moment of calm and relaxation, seemed merely a temporary halt on my steady…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/each-sporadic-burst-of-work-each-minor-success-and-disappointment/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [I mean being a writer is like being a psychoanalyst, but you don't get any patients.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/i-mean-being-a-writer-is-like-being-a-psychoanalyst-but-you-don-t-get/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [But in a tournament, you can be said in for all your money at any point so you can't make any mistakes so you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/but-in-a-tournament-you-can-be-said-in-for-all-your-money-at-any/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [I hate writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/i-hate-writing/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [I mean to say, this is the book and I really loathe it and I can't imagine what a nice Jewish boy like me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/i-mean-to-say-this-is-the-book-and-i-really-loathe-it-and-i-can-t/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [The fact that we write about it doesn't mean we play better than ordinary players at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/the-fact-that-we-write-about-it-doesn-t-mean-we-play-better-than/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [Now, if, as I think, writing should be, it's a kind of risky trade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/now-if-as-i-think-writing-should-be-it-s-a-kind-of-risky-trade/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [I think one of the interesting things about poker is that once you let your ego in, you're done for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/i-think-one-of-the-interesting-things-about-poker-is-that-once-you/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [Yes, I think poker really isn't gambling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/yes-i-think-poker-really-isn-t-gambling/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) [Explore all 29 Al Alvarez quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. 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But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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