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Top 30 Joost A.M. Meerloo Quotes (2025 Update)

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “The mind that is open for questions is open for dissent. In the totalitarian regime the doubting, inquisitive, and imaginative mind has to be suppressed. The totalitarian slave is only allowed to memorize, to salivate when the bell rings.”

1. “The mind that is open for questions is open for dissent. In the totalitarian regime the doubting, inquisitive, and imaginative mind has to be suppressed. The totalitarian slave is only allowed to memorize, to salivate when the bell rings.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “The modern words “brainwashing,” “thought control,” and “menticide” serve to provide a clearer conception of the actual methods by which man’s integrity can be violated. When a concept is given its right name, it can be more easily recognized – and it is with this recognition that the opportunity for systematic correction begins.”

2. “The modern words “brainwashing,” “thought control,” and “menticide” serve to provide a clearer conception of the actual methods by which man’s integrity can be violated. When a concept is given its right name, it can be more easily recognized – and it is with this recognition that the opportunity for systematic correction begins.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “What counts in any man is the consistency and integrity of his behavior, and his courage in taking a stand, not his conformity to official dogma.”

3. “What counts in any man is the consistency and integrity of his behavior, and his courage in taking a stand, not his conformity to official dogma.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “Let us not forget that the best morale booster for ourselves is to help to lift the morale of others. When.”

4. “Let us not forget that the best morale booster for ourselves is to help to lift the morale of others. When.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “The fear of freedom is the fear of assuming responsibility.”

5. “The fear of freedom is the fear of assuming responsibility.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “Totalitaria is any country in which political ideas degenerate into senseless formulations made only for propaganda purposes. It is any country in which a single group – left or right – acquires absolute power and becomes omniscient and omnipotent, any country in which disagreement and differences of opinion are crimes, in which utter conformity is the price of life.”

6. “Totalitaria is any country in which political ideas degenerate into senseless formulations made only for propaganda purposes. It is any country in which a single group – left or right – acquires absolute power and becomes omniscient and omnipotent, any country in which disagreement and differences of opinion are crimes, in which utter conformity is the price of life.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “Totalitarian ideology is able to blackmail man through his inner cowardice It threatens him into surrendering his innermost convictions in exchange for glamour and acceptance...”

7. “Totalitarian ideology is able to blackmail man through his inner cowardice It threatens him into surrendering his innermost convictions in exchange for glamour and acceptance...”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “There is another important weapon the totalitarians use in their campaign to frighten the world into submission. This is the weapon of psychological shock. Hitler kept his enemies in a state of constant confusion and diplomatic upheaval. They never knew what this unpredictable madman was going to do next. Hitler was never logical, because he knew that that was what he was expected to be. Logic can be met with logic, while illogic cannot – it confuses those who think straight.”

8. “There is another important weapon the totalitarians use in their campaign to frighten the world into submission. This is the weapon of psychological shock. Hitler kept his enemies in a state of constant confusion and diplomatic upheaval. They never knew what this unpredictable madman was going to do next. Hitler was never logical, because he knew that that was what he was expected to be. Logic can be met with logic, while illogic cannot – it confuses those who think straight.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “Where thinking is isolated without free exchange with other minds and can no longer expand, delusion may follow. Whenever ideas are compartmentalized, behind and between curtains, the process of continual alert confrontation of facts and reality is hampered. The system freezes, becomes rigid, and dies of delusion.”

9. “Where thinking is isolated without free exchange with other minds and can no longer expand, delusion may follow. Whenever ideas are compartmentalized, behind and between curtains, the process of continual alert confrontation of facts and reality is hampered. The system freezes, becomes rigid, and dies of delusion.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “The basic problems for the man tamer are rather simple: Can man resist a government bent on conditioning him? What can the individual do to protect his mental integrity against the power of a forceful collectivity? Is it possible to do away with every vestige of inner resistance?”

10. “The basic problems for the man tamer are rather simple: Can man resist a government bent on conditioning him? What can the individual do to protect his mental integrity against the power of a forceful collectivity? Is it possible to do away with every vestige of inner resistance?”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “It is often disturbing to see how even intelligent people do not have straight thinking minds of their own. The pattern of the mind, whether toward conformity and compliance or otherwise, is conditioned rather early in life.”

11. “It is often disturbing to see how even intelligent people do not have straight thinking minds of their own. The pattern of the mind, whether toward conformity and compliance or otherwise, is conditioned rather early in life.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “Every group, every club, every society has its leading Pavlovian Bell.”

12. “Every group, every club, every society has its leading Pavlovian Bell.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “In order to tame people into the desired pattern, victims must be brought to a point where they have lost their alert consciousness and mental awareness. Freedom of discussion and free intellectual exchange hinder conditioning. Feelings of terror, feelings of fear and hopelessness, of being alone, of standing with one’s back to the wall, must be instilled.”

13. “In order to tame people into the desired pattern, victims must be brought to a point where they have lost their alert consciousness and mental awareness. Freedom of discussion and free intellectual exchange hinder conditioning. Feelings of terror, feelings of fear and hopelessness, of being alone, of standing with one’s back to the wall, must be instilled.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “The continual intrusion into our minds of the hammering noises of arguments and propaganda can lead to two kinds of reactions. It may lead to apathy and indifference, the I-don’t-care reaction, or to a more intensified desire to study and to understand. Unfortunately, the first reaction is the more popular one.”

14. “The continual intrusion into our minds of the hammering noises of arguments and propaganda can lead to two kinds of reactions. It may lead to apathy and indifference, the I-don’t-care reaction, or to a more intensified desire to study and to understand. Unfortunately, the first reaction is the more popular one.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “Pavlov made another significant discovery: the conditioned reflex could be developed most easily in a quiet laboratory with a minimum of disturbing stimuli. Every trained of animals knows this from his own experience; isolation and the patient repetition of stimuli are required to tame wild animals.”

15. “Pavlov made another significant discovery: the conditioned reflex could be developed most easily in a quiet laboratory with a minimum of disturbing stimuli. Every trained of animals knows this from his own experience; isolation and the patient repetition of stimuli are required to tame wild animals.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “Delusions, carefully implanted, are difficult to correct.”

16. “Delusions, carefully implanted, are difficult to correct.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “Even in laboratory animals we have found that affective goal directedness can spoil the Pavlovian experiment. When, during a bell food training session, the dog’s beloved master entered the room, the animal lost all its previous conditioning and began to bark excitedly. Here is a simple example of an age old truth: love and laughter break through all rigid conditioning.”

17. “Even in laboratory animals we have found that affective goal directedness can spoil the Pavlovian experiment. When, during a bell food training session, the dog’s beloved master entered the room, the animal lost all its previous conditioning and began to bark excitedly. Here is a simple example of an age old truth: love and laughter break through all rigid conditioning.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “At the moment faith and hope disappear, man breaks down.”

18. “At the moment faith and hope disappear, man breaks down.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “As Dobrograev says, “Language is the means of man’s adaption to his environment.” We could rephrase that statement in this way: man’s need for communication with his fellow men interferes with his relation to the outside world, because language and speech itself the verbal tools we use are variable and not objective... In a simpler way we may say: he who dictates and formulates the words and phrases we use, he who is master of the press and radio, is master of the mind.”

19. “As Dobrograev says, “Language is the means of man’s adaption to his environment.” We could rephrase that statement in this way: man’s need for communication with his fellow men interferes with his relation to the outside world, because language and speech itself the verbal tools we use are variable and not objective... In a simpler way we may say: he who dictates and formulates the words and phrases we use, he who is master of the press and radio, is master of the mind.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “That tone and sound in speech have a conditioning quality is something we can verify from our own experience in listening to or in giving commands, or in dealing with our pets. Even the symbolic and semantic meaning of words can acquire a conditioning quality. The word “traitor,” for example, provokes direct feelings and reactions in the minds of those who hear it spoken, even is this discriminatory label is being applied dishonestly.”

20. “That tone and sound in speech have a conditioning quality is something we can verify from our own experience in listening to or in giving commands, or in dealing with our pets. Even the symbolic and semantic meaning of words can acquire a conditioning quality. The word “traitor,” for example, provokes direct feelings and reactions in the minds of those who hear it spoken, even is this discriminatory label is being applied dishonestly.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “In many persons the weight of authority is more important than the quality of the authority.”

21. “In many persons the weight of authority is more important than the quality of the authority.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “Hitler was known among his intimates as the carpet-eater, because he often threw himself on the floor in a kicking and screaming fit like an epileptic rage.”

22. “Hitler was known among his intimates as the carpet-eater, because he often threw himself on the floor in a kicking and screaming fit like an epileptic rage.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “When a concept is given its right name, it can be more easily recognized – and it is with this recognition that the opportunity for systematic correction begins.”

23. “When a concept is given its right name, it can be more easily recognized – and it is with this recognition that the opportunity for systematic correction begins.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “If the victim has a chance to investigate and examine the Communist propaganda and accusations, the whole artificial nightmare will fall away. For this reason, the jailers are careful not to dismiss all their converts at once. A few must stay behind as hostages to assure that those who are released will not expose the whole plot and thus endanger their friends in jail. Those who do tell the truth on their return home feel guilty because their revelations may expose the hostages to.”

24. “If the victim has a chance to investigate and examine the Communist propaganda and accusations, the whole artificial nightmare will fall away. For this reason, the jailers are careful not to dismiss all their converts at once. A few must stay behind as hostages to assure that those who are released will not expose the whole plot and thus endanger their friends in jail. Those who do tell the truth on their return home feel guilty because their revelations may expose the hostages to.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “National and racial prejudices are acted out unwittingly. Group hatred often bursts out almost automatically when triggered by slogans and catchwords.”

25. “National and racial prejudices are acted out unwittingly. Group hatred often bursts out almost automatically when triggered by slogans and catchwords.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “By strengthening the myth of the dictator’s omnipotence, such confessions weaken man’s will to resist him. If a period of peace can be used to soften up a future enemy, the totalitarian armies may be able in time of war to win a cheap and easy victory. Totalitarian psychological warfare is directed largely toward this end. It is an effort to propagandize and hypnotize the world into submission.”

26. “By strengthening the myth of the dictator’s omnipotence, such confessions weaken man’s will to resist him. If a period of peace can be used to soften up a future enemy, the totalitarian armies may be able in time of war to win a cheap and easy victory. Totalitarian psychological warfare is directed largely toward this end. It is an effort to propagandize and hypnotize the world into submission.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “In his important social psychological experiments with students, Asch found out in simple tests that there was a yielding toward an ERRING MAJORITY opinion in more than a third of his test persons, and 75 percent of subjects experimented upon agreed with the majority in varying degrees. In many persons the weight of authority is more important than the quality of the authority.”

27. “In his important social psychological experiments with students, Asch found out in simple tests that there was a yielding toward an ERRING MAJORITY opinion in more than a third of his test persons, and 75 percent of subjects experimented upon agreed with the majority in varying degrees. In many persons the weight of authority is more important than the quality of the authority.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “A fantastic thing is happening in our world. Today a man is no longer punished only for the crimes he has in fact committed. Now he may be compelled to confess to crimes that have been conjured up by his judges, who use his confession for political purposes.”

28. “A fantastic thing is happening in our world. Today a man is no longer punished only for the crimes he has in fact committed. Now he may be compelled to confess to crimes that have been conjured up by his judges, who use his confession for political purposes.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “By the time our heroine becomes a grown woman she will have to consult with a doctor about her constantly recurring headaches. Doctor and patient will have to spend many hours untangling the web of half-lies, innuendos, and self-pitying complaints until the patient rediscovers that her headaches all began on that one day she didn’t want to go to school.”

29. “By the time our heroine becomes a grown woman she will have to consult with a doctor about her constantly recurring headaches. Doctor and patient will have to spend many hours untangling the web of half-lies, innuendos, and self-pitying complaints until the patient rediscovers that her headaches all began on that one day she didn’t want to go to school.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “The slow coercion of hypocrisy, of traditions in our culture that have a levelling effect – these things change us. We crave excitement, hair-raising stories, sensation. We search for situations that create superficial fear to cover up inner anxieties. We like to escape into the irrational because we dislike the challence of self-study and self-thinking.”

30. “The slow coercion of hypocrisy, of traditions in our culture that have a levelling effect – these things change us. We crave excitement, hair-raising stories, sensation. We search for situations that create superficial fear to cover up inner anxieties. We like to escape into the irrational because we dislike the challence of self-study and self-thinking.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “As a rule, inexperienced troops do not immediately show pathological fear in combat; such behavior takes some time to develop.”

31. “As a rule, inexperienced troops do not immediately show pathological fear in combat; such behavior takes some time to develop.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

Joost A.M. Meerloo Quote: “Stand-by morale, based on fear as in prisons, may disintegrate at the least sign of weakness in leader or guard, or when the individuals have not as yet been sufficiently disciplined.”

32. “Stand-by morale, based on fear as in prisons, may disintegrate at the least sign of weakness in leader or guard, or when the individuals have not as yet been sufficiently disciplined.”

— Joost A.M. Meerloo

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