Hannah Arendt

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Hanna Arendt (Political philosopher) was a Holocaust survivor, political philosopher and author.

One of her influential books was "The origins of totalitarianism" published in 1951.

I studied her book in college (as part of a history class requirement). After serving in the military, government position, a number of companies, and academia, I realized that many of the principles so well articulated by Hannah Arendt in her book were just as applicable to bureaucracies, whether governmental, business, academic or otherwise.

About 1996 I collected the most interesting quotes from those I had underlined in college.

About 2018 I collected some of those into this quote page that I could reference from other pages as relevant.

Totalitarian movements are mass organizations of atomized, isolated individuals. Compared with all other parties and movements, their most conspicuous external characteristic is their demand for total, unrestricted, unconditional, and unalterable loyalty of the individual member. Hanna Arendt (Political philosopher)

Arendt, H. (1951). The origins of totalitarianism. 1968 printing. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., p. 21.

The obsession of totalitarian movements with "scientific" proofs ceases once they are in power. Hanna Arendt (Political philosopher)

Arendt, H. (1951). The origins of totalitarianism. 1968 printing. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., p. 43.

What convinces masses are not facts, and not even invented facts, but only the consistency of the system of which they are presumably part. Hanna Arendt (Political philosopher)

Arendt, H. (1951). The origins of totalitarianism. 1968 printing. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., p. 49.

Totalitarian propaganda can outrageously insult common sense only where common sense has lost its validity. Hanna Arendt (Political philosopher)

Arendt, H. (1951). The origins of totalitarianism. 1968 printing. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., p. 50.

Once these propaganda slogans are integrated into a "living organization", they cannot be safely eliminated without wrecking the whole structure. Hanna Arendt (Political philosopher)

Arendt, H. (1951). The origins of totalitarianism. 1968 printing. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., p. 60.

Mass propaganda discovered that its audience was ready at all times to believe the worst, no matter how absurd, and did not particularly object to being deceived because it held every statement to be a lie anyhow. Hanna Arendt (Political philosopher)

Arendt, H. (1951). The origins of totalitarianism. 1968 printing. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., p. 80.

Common sense trained in utilitarian thinking is helpless against this ideological supersense, since totalitarian regimes establish a functioning world of no-sense. Hanna Arendt (Political philosopher)

Arendt, H. (1951). The origins of totalitarianism. 1968 printing. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., p. 156.

The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any. Hanna Arendt (Political philosopher)

Arendt, H. (1951). The origins of totalitarianism. 1968 printing. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., p. 166.

How does one know if what one is being taught is the truth?

More to be added.