# Quote — Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

> Every age has its peculiar folly; some scheme, project, or phantasy into which it plunges, spurred on either by the love of gain, the necessity of excitement, or the mere force of imitation. Failing in these, it has some madness, to which it is goaded by political or religious causes, or both combined.

- Author: [Charles Mackay](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-mackay.md)
- Book: [Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-mackay/extraordinary-popular-delusions-and-the-madness-of-crowds.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Mackay_(author)#Extraordinary_Popular_Delusions_and_the_Madness_of_Crowds_(1841)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-mackay/extraordinary-popular-delusions-and-the-madness-of-crowds/every-age-has

## More from this book

> The over-bearing insolence of ignorant men, who had arisen to sudden wealth by successful gambling, made men of true gentility of mind and manners blush that gold should have power to raise the unworthy in the scale of society.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-mackay/extraordinary-popular-delusions-and-the-madness-of-crowds/the-over-bearing-insolence.md)

> Nations, like individuals, cannot become desperate gamblers with impunity. Punishment is sure to overtake them sooner or later.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-mackay/extraordinary-popular-delusions-and-the-madness-of-crowds/nations-like-individuals.md)

> During seasons of great pestilence, men have often believed the prophecies of crazed fanatics, that the end of the world was come.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-mackay/extraordinary-popular-delusions-and-the-madness-of-crowds/during-seasons-of-great.md)