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About this quote

What does it mean?
Most people in a great nation cannot judge complex matters wisely.
In plain terms
The majority lacks wisdom to decide important issues.
What can you take from it?
Mass opinion is often flawed.

Where it applies

  • public policy
  • elections
  • group decision making

Putting it to work

  • evaluate group decisions
  • seek expert opinion

Questions to consider

  • Do you trust majority rule?
  • Who judges wise decisions?

Another view

Collective wisdom can sometimes outperform individual judgment.

More from Napoleon Bonaparte

  1. Imagination rules the world.

    Permalink to quote #112
  2. In choosing a wife, a man does not renounce his mother, and still less is he justified in breaking her heart.

    Permalink to quote #114
  3. If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.

    Permalink to quote #111

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