Quote

If you want to change a person, you've got to change the situation.

Philip Zimbardo

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Philip Zimbardo
Age: 91
Born: 1933
Born: March 23
Non-Fiction Writer
Psychologist
Social Psychologist
University Teacher
New York City
New York
Philip George Zimbardo
Philip G. Zimbardo
Person
Situation
Change
Persons

More quotes by Philip Zimbardo

Image
There are no limits to what I would do to make my classes exciting, interesting, unpredictable.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Bullies are often people who are shy and can't make friends easily, so, as the theme of the movie 'A Bronx Tale' tells us, it is better to be feared if you can't be loved.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Being hurt personally triggered a curiosity about how such beliefs are formed.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Societal expectations matter little personal expectations matter tremendously.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Many cults start off with high ideals that get corrupted by leaders or their board of advisors who become power-hungry and dominate and control members lives. No group with high ideals starts off as a cult they become one when their errant ways are exposed.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Time matters because we are finite, because time is the medium in which we live our lives.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
The first time I spoke publicly about the Stanford Prison Experiment, Stanley Milgram told me: Your study is going to take all the ethical heat off of my back. People are now going to say yours is the most unethical study ever, and not mine.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Heroes are those who can somehow resist the power of the situation and act out of noble motives, or behave in ways that do not demean others when they easily can.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Research shows that the deciscions of a group as a whole are more thoughtful and creative when there is minority dissent than when it is absent.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Where can you find purpose? Like success and happiness, our purpose exists in the present, and we constantly strive toward the future to maintain it. What it is for which we strive is up to each of us. The important thing is that we strive toward something.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Ideas for my first experiments in human aggression came from discussions we had in a research seminar about William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies.'
Philip Zimbardo
Image
The most dramatic instances of directed behavior change and mind control are not the consequence of exotic forms of influence, such as hypnosis, psychotropic drugs, or brainwashing, but rather the systematic manipulation of the most mundane aspects of human nature over time in confining settings.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Coming from New York, I know that if you go by a delicatessen, and you put a sweet cucumber in the vinegar barrel, the cucumber might say, No, I want to retain my sweetness. But it's hopeless. The barrel will turn the sweet cucumber into a pickle. You can't be a sweet cucumber in a vinegar barrel.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
The level of shyness has gone up dramatically in the last decade. I think shyness is an index of social pathology rather than a pathology of the individual.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Prejudice and discrimination have always been a big part of my life. When I was 6, I got beat up and called dirty Jew boy because they thought I looked Jewish.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Academic success depends on research and publications.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
As a result of the prison study, I really became more aware of the central role of power in our lives. I became more aware of the power I have as a teacher. I started consciously doing things to minimize the negative use of power in the classroom. I encouraged students to challenge me.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Boys' brains are being digitally rewired for change, novelty, excitement and constant arousal. That means they're totally out of sync in traditional classes, which are analog, static, interactively passive.
Philip Zimbardo
Image
Our time is brief, and it will pass no matter what we do. So let us have purpose in spending it. Let us spend it so that our time matters to each of us, and matters to all those whose lives we touch.
Philip Zimbardo