In this thread I will post quotes from Propaganda (1928) by Edward Bernays.

Bernays (1891 – 1995), generally regarded as the father of public relations, applied the theories of his uncle, Jewish psychologist Sigmund Freud, to the field of marketing.

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.

In theory, every citizen makes up his mind on public questions [...]. In practice, if all men had to study for themselves the abstruse economic, political and ethical data involved in every question, they would find it impossible to come to a conclusion about anything.

Economic power tends to draw after it political power and the history of the industrial revolution shows how that power passed from the king and the aristocracy to the bourgeoisie. Universal suffrage and universal schooling reinforced this tendency.

Whatever of social importance is done today […] must be done with the help of propaganda. Propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government.

There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating behind the scenes.

If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway. Because man is by nature gregarious he feels himself to be member of a herd, even when he is alone in his room with the curtains drawn.

Mass production is only profitable if […] it can continue to sell its product in steady or increasing quantity. The result is that, while [...] a century ago demand created the supply, today supply must actively seek to create its corresponding demand.

The voice of the people expresses the mind of the people and that mind is made up for it by the group leaders in whom it believes and by those persons who understand the manipulation of public opinion.

The important thing for the statesman of our age is not so much to know how to please the public, but to know how to sway the public.

The expert use of propaganda is more useful and fundamental […] as an aid to democratic administration, than as an aid to vote getting. Good government can be sold to a community just as any other commodity can be sold.

There has to be fertile ground for the leader and the idea to fall on […]. Propaganda is of no use to the politician unless he has something to say which the public, consciously or unconsciously, wants to hear.

Education, in the academic sense of the word, is not sufficient. It must be enlightened expert propaganda through the creation of circumstances, through the high-spotting of significant events and the dramatization of important issues.