--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is asked whether, in fact, the leader…" description: "\"“It is asked whether, in fact, the leader makes propaganda, or whether propaganda makes the leader. There is a widespread impression that a good press ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/edward-l-bernays-72909_great-man_it-is-asked-whether-in-fact-the-leader-m_2844269.jpg" --- # It is asked whether, in fact, the leader makes propaganda… ![“It is asked whether, in fact, the leader makes propaganda, or whether propaganda makes the leader. There is a widespread impression that a good press agent can puff up a nobody into a great man. The answer is the same as that made to the old query as to whether the newspaper makes public opinion…” quote by Edward L. Bernays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/edward-l-bernays-72909_great-man_it-is-asked-whether-in-fact-the-leader-m_2844269.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/edward-l-bernays-72909_great-man_it-is-asked-whether-in-fact-the-leader-m_2844269.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/edward-l-bernays-72909_great-man_it-is-asked-whether-in-fact-the-leader-m_2844269.jpg) > ““It is asked whether, in fact, the leader makes propaganda, or whether propaganda makes the leader. There is a widespread impression that a good press agent can puff up a nobody into a great man. The answer is the same as that made to the old query as to whether the newspaper makes public opinion or whether public opinion makes the newspaper. There has to be fertile ground for the leader and the idea to fall on. But the leader also has to have some vital seed to sow. To use another figure, a mutual need has to exist before either can become positively effective. Propaganda is of no use to the politician unless he has something to say which the public, consciously or unconsciously, wants to hear.”” Edward L. Bernays ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The relationship between leaders and propaganda is reciprocal; each needs the other to be effective, and both require an audience ready to receive the message. **In simple terms:** Leaders and propaganda depend on each other and an eager audience. Key Takeaway Cultivate a clear, resonant message before seeking publicity. Themes leadership media influence public opinion communication Mood strategic analytical Type theoretical practical When to use this quote - political campaigns - brand launches - social movements - crisis communication Key Concepts propaganda theory mutual reinforcement audience readiness Questions to Reflect On - What core message does your audience truly need? - How can you gauge audience readiness before messaging? A Different Perspective If the audience is hostile or indifferent, propaganda may backfire. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Great man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-man/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Propaganda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/propaganda/) [Public opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-opinion/) ## Related quotes > [“A good American makes propaganda for whatever existence has forced him to become.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-good-american-makes-propaganda-for-whatever-existence-has-forced/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [In spreading his ideas, Plato was willing to employ emotional appeals, state propaganda, and the use of force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/in-spreading-his-ideas-plato-was-willing-to-employ-emotional-appeals/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Art and propaganda have this much connection, that if a propaganda makes art impossible, it is clearly damned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/art-and-propaganda-have-this-much-connection-that-if-a-propaganda/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [Loud peace propaganda makes war seem imminent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/loud-peace-propaganda-makes-war-seem-imminent/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [“„All effective propaganda“, Hitler wrote, „must be expressed in a few stereotyped formulas.“ The stereotyped formulas must be constantly repeated for „only constant repetition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/all-effective-propaganda-hitler-wrote-must-be-expressed-in-a-few/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [ The more modest its intellectual ballast, the more exclusively it takes into consideration the emotions of the masses, the more effective \[propaganda\] will be. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-more-modest-its-intellectual-ballast-the-more-exclusively-it/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [“All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-propaganda-must-be-popular-and-its-intellectual-level-must-be-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“So effective has their propaganda been that an American official was moved to describe the Brotherhood as “a loose network of secular groups.”27 This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/so-effective-has-their-propaganda-been-that-an-american-official-was/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [The receptivity of the masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-receptivity-of-the-masses-is-very-limited-their-intelligence-is/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [The best defense against propaganda: more propaganda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bernays/the-best-defense-against-propaganda-more-propaganda/) [Edward Bernays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bernays/) > [The successor to politics will be propaganda. Propaganda, not in the sense of a message or ideology, but as the impact of the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-successor-to-politics-will-be-propaganda-propaganda-not-in-the/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Wrestling isn't real. The falls hurt, sometimes you get punches in the face, but it's not real. It's propaganda. Propaganda makes you the giant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enzo-amore/wrestling-isn-t-real-the-falls-hurt-sometimes-you-get-punches-in-the/) [Enzo Amore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enzo-amore/) > [The minority has discovered a powerful help in influencing majorities. It has been found possible so to mold the mind of the masses that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bernays/the-minority-has-discovered-a-powerful-help-in-influencing-majorities/) [Edward Bernays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bernays/) > [Among some of the organized methods used to control the world is the thing known and called PROPAGANDA. Propaganda has done more to defeat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-garvey/among-some-of-the-organized-methods-used-to-control-the-world-is-the/) [Marcus Garvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-garvey/) > [In the communist revolution in North Korea, when they threw out the Japanese occupiers, they claimed the power in the dynamic of this volcano…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-herzog/in-the-communist-revolution-in-north-korea-when-they-threw-out-the/) [Werner Herzog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-herzog/) ## More by Edward L. Bernays > [“Universal literacy was supposed to educate the common man to control his environment. Once he could read and write he would have a mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-l-bernays/universal-literacy-was-supposed-to-educate-the-common-man-to-control/) Edward L. Bernays > [“But being dependent, every day of the year and for year after year, upon certain politicians for news, the newspaper reporters are obliged to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-l-bernays/but-being-dependent-every-day-of-the-year-and-for-year-after-year/) Edward L. Bernays Explore all 3 Edward L. Bernays quotes ## More Great man quotes > [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [Football is a team sport. I'm proud of what I achieved in my career, but I also know that I wouldn't have achieved any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schmeichel/football-is-a-team-sport-i-m-proud-of-what-i-achieved-in-my-career/) [Peter Schmeichel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schmeichel/) > [My father was a really great man. I'll never forget the last thing he ever said to me. Nor will I ever repeat it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-s-hall/my-father-was-a-really-great-man-i-ll-never-forget-the-last-thing-he/) [John S. Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-s-hall/) > [To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/to-vilify-a-great-man-is-the-readiest-way-in-which-a-little-man-can/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [There are a great many colored people who are ashamed of the cake-walk, but I think they ought to be proud of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-weldon-johnson/there-are-a-great-many-colored-people-who-are-ashamed-of-the-cake/) [James Weldon Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-weldon-johnson/) > [“The effects of the division of labour, in the general business of society, will be more easily understood by considering in what manner it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/the-effects-of-the-division-of-labour-in-the-general-business-of/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [Greatness by nature includes a power, but not a will to power. ... The great man, whether we comprehend him in the most intense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/greatness-by-nature-includes-a-power-but-not-a-will-to-power-the/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [A great man isn't the one who can show all his greatness, but great man is the one who can show his Humility upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-great-man-isn-t-the-one-who-can-show-all-his-greatness-but-great/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But the mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/but-the-mark-of-a-great-man-is-one-who-knows-when-to-set-aside-the/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [It's awfully hard to be the son of a great man and also of a half-crazy woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-steele-commager/it-s-awfully-hard-to-be-the-son-of-a-great-man-and-also-of-a-half/) [Henry Steele Commager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-steele-commager/) > [“...a great man who is vicious will only be a great doer of evil, and a rich man who is not liberal will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-cervantes/a-great-man-who-is-vicious-will-only-be-a-great-doer-of-evil-and-a/) Miguel Cervantes > [We expect a great man to be a good reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-expect-a-great-man-to-be-a-good-reader/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Nature never sends a great man into the planet, without confiding the secret to another soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/nature-never-sends-a-great-man-into-the-planet-without-confiding-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“We’re not the greatest thing in the universe, certainly not the smartest. Seems logical there’d be a great many things in it we can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvain-neuvel/we-re-not-the-greatest-thing-in-the-universe-certainly-not-the/) [Sylvain Neuvel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvain-neuvel/) > [All I am in private life is a literary critic and historian, that's my job...And I'm prepared to say on that basis if anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/all-i-am-in-private-life-is-a-literary-critic-and-historian-that-s-my/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) [Browse all 1,429 Great man quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-man/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is asked whether, in fact, the leader makes propaganda, or whether propaganda makes the leader. There is a widespread impression that a good press agent can puff up a nobody into a great man. 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