--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's characteristic of democracy that…" description: "\"It's characteristic of democracy that majority rule is understood as being effective not only in politics but also in thinking. In thinking, of course,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66f/joseph-campbell-300_always-wrong_it-s-characteristic-of-democracy-that-ma_2625905.png" --- # It's characteristic of democracy that majority rule is… ![“It's characteristic of democracy that majority rule is understood as being effective not only in politics but also in thinking. In thinking, of course, the majority is always wrong.” quote by Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66f/joseph-campbell-300_always-wrong_it-s-characteristic-of-democracy-that-ma_2625905.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66f/joseph-campbell-300_always-wrong_it-s-characteristic-of-democracy-that-ma_2625905.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66f/joseph-campbell-300_always-wrong_it-s-characteristic-of-democracy-that-ma_2625905.png) > “It's characteristic of democracy that majority rule is understood as being effective not only in politics but also in thinking. In thinking, of course, the majority is always wrong.” [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Democracy’s majority rule works in politics but often misleads collective thought. **In simple terms:** Majority works in politics, not always in thinking. Key Takeaway Question consensus in decision‑making. Themes democracy logic majority Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - board meetings - public policy - team brainstorming Key Concepts political theory cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - When have you trusted the majority? - How to balance majority and expert opinion? A Different Perspective Majority can suppress minority insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Always wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always-wrong/) [Characteristic Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characteristic-democracy-2148838/) [Characteristics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characteristics/) [Courses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courses/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Democracy Majority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy-majority-1380671/) [Majority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/majority/) [Majority rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/majority-rule/) [Majority Wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/majority-wrong-1456356/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Reasoning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasoning/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Understood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understood/) [Wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrong/) ## Related quotes > [Democracy, or "majority rules," is another trick of our society to force us to do things we don't want to do. Even if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-murray/democracy-or-majority-rules-is-another-trick-of-our-society-to-force/) [William J. Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-murray/) > [I call government that works the best for people open society, which is basically just another more general term for a democracy that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/i-call-government-that-works-the-best-for-people-open-society-which/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [Watch what everyone else does--do the opposite. The majority is always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/watch-what-everyone-else-does-do-the-opposite-the-majority-is-always/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Don't make decisions by majority vote. The majority is almost always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-rogers/don-t-make-decisions-by-majority-vote-the-majority-is-almost-always/) [Adrian Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-rogers/) > [Since the majority is always wrong, might we try one election day where all the losers take office?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/since-the-majority-is-always-wrong-might-we-try-one-election-day/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [No less characteristic in a democracy is social justice. This demands a solution to the frightening indexes of infant mortality, of malnutrition, lack of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberta-menchu/no-less-characteristic-in-a-democracy-is-social-justice-this-demands/) [Rigoberta Menchu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberta-menchu/) > [“Democracy is about the majority understanding that minorities have rights too.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-esler/democracy-is-about-the-majority-understanding-that-minorities-have/) [Gavin Esler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-esler/) > [In a democracy, the majority of the citizens is capable of exercising the most cruel oppressions upon the minority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-a-democracy-the-majority-of-the-citizens-is-capable-of-exercising/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [In a democracy the majority of citizens is capable of exercising the most cruel oppressions upon the minority...and that oppression of the majority will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-a-democracy-the-majority-of-citizens-is-capable-of-exercising-the/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [The ordinary Christian with the Bible in his hand can say that the majority is wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-schaeffer/the-ordinary-christian-with-the-bible-in-his-hand-can-say-that-the/) [Francis Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-schaeffer/) > [“The majority is always wrong, and the minority of supermen and degenerates—Zolas, Ibsens, etc.—must band together and overthrow the whole damn system which drives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-e-baker/the-majority-is-always-wrong-and-the-minority-of-supermen-and/) [Wallace E. Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-e-baker/) > [“Sooner or later the market will do what it has to do to prove the majority wrong. And:”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sooner-or-later-the-market-will-do-what-it-has-to-do-to-prove-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority are wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/when-great-changes-occur-in-history-when-great-principles-are/) [Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/) > [The majority is always wrong; the minority is rarely right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/the-majority-is-always-wrong-the-minority-is-rarely-right/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [In the history of science it has often happened that the majority was wrong and refused to listen to a minority that later turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/in-the-history-of-science-it-has-often-happened-that-the-majority-was/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) ## More by Joseph Campbell > [If a person does not listen to the demands of their own spiritual and heart life and insists on a certain program, you're going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-a-person-does-not-listen-to-the-demands-of-their-own-spiritual-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The last act in the biography of the hero is that of the death or departure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-last-act-in-the-biography-of-the-hero-is-that-of-the-death-or/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-privilege-of-a-lifetime-is-being-who-you-are/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The eternal principle, which never was born, never will die: it is in all things: it is in you now. You are the wave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-eternal-principle-which-never-was-born-never-will-die-it-is-in/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [How do you find the divine power in yourself? The word enthusiasm means 'filled with a god,' so what makes you enthusiastic? Follow it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/how-do-you-find-the-divine-power-in-yourself-the-word-enthusiasm/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [What we're learning in our schools is not the wisdom of life. We're learning technologies, we're getting information. There's a curious reluctance on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/what-we-re-learning-in-our-schools-is-not-the-wisdom-of-life-we-re/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [ The fall \[of your soul\] from perfection into duality...was naturally followed by the discovery of the duality of good and evil...This is the Biblical… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-fall-of-your-soul-from-perfection-into-duality-was-naturally/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [So that's what destiny is: simply the fulfillment of the potentialites of the energies in your own system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/so-that-s-what-destiny-is-simply-the-fulfillment-of-the-potentialites/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Your ego is your embodiment and your self is your potentiality and that's what you listen to when you listen for the voice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/your-ego-is-your-embodiment-and-your-self-is-your-potentiality-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When you follow your bliss a kind of track opens up, that's always been there, waiting for you. And the life that you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-follow-your-bliss-a-kind-of-track-opens-up-that-s-always/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The best we can do is lean towards the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-best-we-can-do-is-lean-towards-the-light/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [I think of mythology as the homeland of the muses, the inspirers of art, the inspirers of poetry. To see life as a poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/i-think-of-mythology-as-the-homeland-of-the-muses-the-inspirers-of/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When you are falling --- Dive!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-are-falling-dive/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [We're all seeking...the rapture of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/we-re-all-seeking-the-rapture-of-being-alive/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Both the artist and the lover know that perfection is not loveable. It is the clumsiness of a fault that makes a person lovable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/both-the-artist-and-the-lover-know-that-perfection-is-not-loveable-it/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) [Explore all 711 Joseph Campbell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## More Always wrong quotes > [People who try to predict the future by extrapolating in a line of more of what exists - they are always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/people-who-try-to-predict-the-future-by-extrapolating-in-a-line-of/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. Go back to the grass roots. Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/pay-no-heed-to-the-passing-religious-vogue-go-back-to-the-grass-roots/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [Grasshopper always wrong in argument with chicken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/grasshopper-always-wrong-in-argument-with-chicken/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Apparently, an undocumented side effect of dope is a gross overestimation of one's own intelligence. Dopers become convinced they've hidden their stash so well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alafair-burke/apparently-an-undocumented-side-effect-of-dope-is-a-gross/) [Alafair Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alafair-burke/) > [Since the majority is always wrong, might we try one election day where all the losers take office?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/since-the-majority-is-always-wrong-might-we-try-one-election-day/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [you may take it from me, that however hard you try - or don't try; whatever you do - or don't do; for better,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwen-raverat/you-may-take-it-from-me-that-however-hard-you-try-or-don-t-try/) [Gwen Raverat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwen-raverat/) > [Power is the pivot on which everything hinges. He who has the power is always right; the weaker is always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/power-is-the-pivot-on-which-everything-hinges-he-who-has-the-power-is/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [She didn't give George any too easy a time when she was alive. She was one of those semi-invalids – I believe she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/she-didn-t-give-george-any-too-easy-a-time-when-she-was-alive-she-was/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [Without the instruments and accumulated knowledge of the natural sciences... humans are trapped in a cognitive prison. They are like intelligent fish born in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/without-the-instruments-and-accumulated-knowledge-of-the-natural/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [Torturing a human being is almost always wrong, but it is not absolutely wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/torturing-a-human-being-is-almost-always-wrong-but-it-is-not/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [People recognize me from everything and as soon as I think I know where they know me from, I'm always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niecy-nash/people-recognize-me-from-everything-and-as-soon-as-i-think-i-know/) [Niecy Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niecy-nash/) > [Socialism is always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-ayittey/socialism-is-always-wrong/) [George Ayittey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-ayittey/) > [So, economics should emulate physics' basic ethos, but its search for precision in physics-like formulas is almost always wrong in economics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/so-economics-should-emulate-physics-basic-ethos-but-its-search-for/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [I have taken the stand that nobody can be always wrong, but it does seem to me that I have approximated so highly that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fort/i-have-taken-the-stand-that-nobody-can-be-always-wrong-but-it-does/) [Charles Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fort/) > [Don't make decisions by majority vote. The majority is almost always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-rogers/don-t-make-decisions-by-majority-vote-the-majority-is-almost-always/) [Adrian Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-rogers/) [Browse all 71 Always wrong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always-wrong/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's characteristic of democracy that majority rule is understood as being effective not only in politics but also in thinking. 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