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

> For more than a thousand years the art of alchymy captivated many noble spirits, and was believed in by millions. Its origin is involved in obscurity. Some of its devotees have claimed for it an antiquity coeval with the creation of man himself, others, again, would trace it no further back than the time of Noah.

- 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/for-more-than

## 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)