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The line between good and evil is movable and it's permeable.

Philip Zimbardo

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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
Permeable
Movable
Line
Lines
Evil
Good

More quotes by Philip Zimbardo

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That human behavior is more influenced by things outside of us than inside. The situation is the external environment. The inner environment is genes, moral history, religious training.
Philip Zimbardo
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To be a hero you have to learn to be a deviant — because you're always going against the conformity of the group.
Philip Zimbardo
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Academic success depends on research and publications.
Philip Zimbardo
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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
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In one sense, the Stanford prison study is more like a Greek drama than a traditional experiment, in that we have humanity, represented by a bunch of good people, pitted against an evil-producing situation. The question is, does the goodness of the people overwhelm the bad situation, or does the bad situation overwhelm the good people?
Philip Zimbardo
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Societal expectations matter little personal expectations matter tremendously.
Philip Zimbardo
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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
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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
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Fear is the State's psychological weapon of choice to frighten citizens into sacrificing their basic freedoms and rule-of-law protections in exchange for the security promised by their all-powerful government.
Philip Zimbardo
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Bullying is an evil because it not only destroys the life of the kid who's bullied, but also makes everyone in the class who knows this is going on feel guilty for not doing anything.
Philip Zimbardo
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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
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At North Hollywood High School, I was shunned by everyone. I would sit down in the cafeteria, and students would get up from the table and walk away. They thought I was from the Mafia...
Philip Zimbardo
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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
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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
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There are no limits to what I would do to make my classes exciting, interesting, unpredictable.
Philip Zimbardo
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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
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If you want to change a person, you've got to change the situation.
Philip Zimbardo
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Depending on whom you ask, time is money, time is love, time is work, time is play, time is enjoying friends, time is raising children, and time is much more. Time is what you make of it.
Philip Zimbardo
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What troubles me is the Internet and the electronic technology revolution. Shyness is fueled in part by so many people spending huge amounts of time alone, isolated on e-mail, in chat rooms, which reduces their face-to-face contact with other people.
Philip Zimbardo
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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