Joseph Paul GoebbelsJoseph Paul Goebbels, (1897-1945) German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany

Joseph Paul Goebbels Quote

“It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion.”

Joseph Paul GoebbelsJoseph Paul Goebbels
~ Joseph Paul Goebbels

Speech, October 1933

Ratings and Comments


E Archer, NYC

And that is what most governments try to do.

David L Rosenthal

My favorite psychopath (after all my other favorite psychopaths).

Logan, Memphis, TN

Ah, the hypocrisy of the American public. We love to praise our indoctrinating public education... We praise what the previous quote of Einstein, that knowledge should not be restricted to an elite group; thusly, we support public education, because it is supposedly the best tool for providing and equalizing the education of the American student; however, public education is much more a master than a servant, in indoctrinating multiple generations into an entitlement attitude. In general, American’s, on the surface, will fight against governmental supervision in the formation of public opinion, while, in the same breath, supporting, with full heart, government-run public education. What hypocrisy! It’s not in government’s prerogative to train it’s citizenry to be self dependant; citizen’s of a government must depend on the government for their education, opportunity, safety, sustenance, accountability, and responsibility! You cannot be a slave to a government, receiving all the wonderful benefits that the master gives his slave, and also be the master. You are either one or the other. You either fight all forms of state supervision upon the formation of public opinion, and take education, the first and strongest source of indoctrination, out of the hands of the state--- Or you can do as Samuel Adams said, “crouch down and lick the hand which feeds you, may your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.” You cannot send your child to place of learning, knowledge, and education, that is governed, funded, and put together by the government, and be against the state’s right of the formation of public opinion.

E Archer, NYC
  • Reply
E Archer, NYC Logan, Memphis, TN 10/5/20

We are seeing the fruits of that indoctrination now.

Mike, Norwalk

hmmm: I think this is the religious anthem emblazoned in the foreheads of all current government(s) and media participants(figuratively speaking, of course) wow Logan, I can see you ate the whole industrial strength meal of liberty today, I love it.

Anonymous, Reston, VA US

The more I read these quotes from Nazis, the more I am reminded of King George & His Hench Men (hum, could be a good band name, eh? ;-). Personally, I've always found that products of public schools are much more likely to be thinkers than those of religious schooling &/or home schooling.

E Archer, NYC
  • Reply
E Archer, NYC Anonymous, Reston, VA US 10/5/20

Sadly, my experience has been the opposite, and I have attended public, religious, college prep schools.  I will say that 'thinkers' are not really encouraged anywhere  there isn't a course for that.

Mike, Mount Holly, NC

You nailed it Logan. That and religious reasons is why we home school. My son went to a government school kindergarten, and even at that age I could see the indoctrination in socialism, environmentalism and political correctness even though we live in a pretty conservative small town. You see extremes of this in places like California, and I hear parents say, "I'd never send my kids to government school THERE". However, I don't think there are any schools safe from this government endoctrination. The federal government keeps them all in line by dangling the "federal funding" carrot in front of them.

Mike, Mount Holly, NC

Reston, how many home schoolers have you met and talked with? Your hatred of Christianity and religion and your liberal world view so obviously colors everything you think and say, I can just about predict your replies before you make them. Do you fancy yourself a free thinker? Then why do you always parrot the liberal/Democrat party line?

E Archer, NYC
  • Reply
E Archer, NYC Mike, Mount Holly, NC 10/5/20

No doubt, Reston, has never even been in contact with a home-schooled child.  I home-schooled our children as well.  I suppose my biggest complaint about the education system is that we have institutionalized the populace!  We are being prepared for a lifetime sitting at a desk. We are merely plugged in to the machine.  The power of the group is so seductive, we will exchange our individuality for a share in that power.  Our pleasures are all associated with power now.  It is not enough that our cup runneth over, we must ever pursue more and more and more power.  It is a mad dash for the musical chairs leaving only one in a seat of power.  All we have to do is look at the product of today's colleges to see the programming our children have been subject to for 20 years.

Mike, Mount Holly, NC

... by the way, most of the Founders and many of our early presidents were home schooled (and Christian). Just imagine how much better this country could have been if they'd had the benefit of our government schools.

Mike, Mount Holly, NC

Government schools are sheep factories ... my new bumper sticker ;-)

Mike, Norwalk

Notice bigotry's choice of entitlement for public schoolers, 'products'. Reston, do a little research (if your able). What is the percentage of home scholars vs. public schoolers getting advanced degrees in the ivy league schools?

E Archer, NYC
  • Reply
E Archer, NYC Mike, Norwalk 10/5/20

I can't imagine home-schooling your children only to send them to a socialist Ivy League college.  Firstly, it is not worth the money, secondly, there is nothing to learn there that you couldn't learn on your own reading and writing books.

Mike, Norwalk

Reston, while the state was forming public opinion, was it the state's public class on the 12 apostles, Christ's miracles, or what that so jaded you?

David L. Rosenthal, Ivory Tower

Logan: If it were not for hypocrisy, I would not know what to think of myself.

Joe, Rochester, MI

SPIN is what they call today's supervision of government propoganda.

Dan, San Diego, CA

You people are so stupid that you did not even read the quote. You did not think about who said it and its implications. You are on tangents about home schooling and religion. The only guy that got is was the first blogger. What morons! "Absolute right of the state" means you cannot question it. All that the Nazi's wanted to do was formulate and supervise public opinion. Amazing that the media and goverment of today can do the same thing while most of society (represented by you bloggers) never addressed the culprits that produce the propaganda itself.

J Carlton, Calgary

A statement that is about as anti-American as it gets, yet somehow it is an American industry...

Herta, Sarasota

For Mike of Mount Holly. Our founders and Presidents would never have written the Constitution or the Bill of Rights had they been publicly schooled. It was their Christianity and their Home schooling that sowed the seeds of our Republic and our Liberties. Unfortunately, when Ben Franklin told us that they gave us a Republic, if we can keep it, he had a lot of foresight and unfortunately, we were not able to keep it, because we are now swallowed up by Statism, i.e Big Government. What a crime against Humanity.

Karl Marx, Franklin, Pa.

As true as it gets in America today! Oh sure someone will say it is not true, but the sad fact is that public opinion is shaped by the radical , liberal, press here in the United States. You can say Goebells quote is wrong, yet in fact it is true, look around today and say that it is not happening, you can't.

J Carlton, Calgary

When the Governing Regime has all the guns, I guess their rights are whatever they say they are....Who's to stop them?

jim k, Austin, Tx

Herta, Sarasota,I agree with most of what you wrote, however, Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and Thomas paine were not Christians, they were Deists. Jefferson thought that the idea of the Trinity was ludicrous as did Thomas Paine. For Jefferson's view of religion, read "The Essense Of Jefferson" by Martin Larson.

E Archer, NYC

Fundamental Christianity is absolutely opposed to a republican form of government as it is monarchical in design. People forget that Christianity claimed supremacy over all kings and kingdoms -- and still does today. I have yet to hear a simple way to reconcile the Christian monarchy with a free republican form of government. And the mentality is the same among atheists who glorify the state and equate government with society. One constant remains, however: the people must OBEY the 'ministers' whether religious or secular. The idea that Christ is our King and we to obey as his 'ministers' teach us is absolutely incompatible with Liberty, reason, responsibility, conscience, and compassion. Please note that without the support of Jews and Christians worldwide, the murdering of millions upon millions would not occur. As far as I can tell, from the Bible to CNN, the Judeo-Christian tradition is WAR and SUBMISSION and anyone who resists is damned, and they are only too happy to help God rain fire and brimstone upon the heathens on their own land. And they do it with a clean conscience. That's propaganda for you, and most people have no clue the extent to which they have been programmed by the state.

Mann, Kalamazoo

The merest idea of what modern TV has become in terms of mind control would have given Goebbels multiple orgasms. That much is obvious, given the resounding ignorance consistently on display in these spaces - from astroturfers and dogmatic ideologues alike. What I routinely read here can't be anything but demonstrable failure of "public education." Yet xenophobia appears to be the only heralded remedy. How many of you people actually attended a school board meeting in the past year? How many have read your child's textbooks from cover to cover or been a silent observer in a classroom, as my district once allowed? Godammit! Those are NOT "government schools." They're YOUR schools and that is PRECISELY where the blame lies. We're a great bunch of whiners, but you know what? Here we find a great many parrots - but very, very few truly independent thinkers. It's our national 'statist' of mind.

Mike, Norwalk

Archer, I would have to completely agree with your - out side in perspective of history. Jesus himself said: "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered . . ." I may be the most hard core believing Christian you have ever run across. The foundation of Jesus' doctrines is not to obey temporal ministers but rather, rise to the level of Jesus the Christ's principled teachings (not just the principles on which natural law is based but, be the 'I am' of love, truth, faith, service, selflessness, etc.) The ignorant that would and have acted as you've stated do not follow the precepts of the Christ but, are as Jesus said: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Just because an individual stands in a garage in Detroit, yells honk, and pours oil on himself, that does not make him a Chevy. The same is true of an individual that follows a minister, obeys carnal masters outside natural law, glorifies the state, participates in: compelled compliance, governmental license, victimless crimes, larceny with impunity, non-recognition of inalienable rights, participates in the murdering of millions and then calls themselves Christians - they are not. Religion is most basically the motivated following of a perceived moral. If the moral was not stated by Jesus (larceny = funny money, income tax, etc. for example), it is not his religion, no matter what anyone else calls it.

E Archer, NYC
  • Reply
E Archer, NYC Mike, Norwalk 10/5/20

I am a big supporter of individual awakening in "Christ Consciousness" rather than the institutionalism of the Word.  The truth sets us free, not yokes us for collective power.  Fellowship is the voluntary association of people for a purpose.  Depending on the purpose, I can offer my power as well, but it is my choice, and there are always 'consequences' for those choices.  I honor and respect that.

Bob, Mountain View, CA

And that is EXACTLY what most governments try to do, really. In the US, public opinion is molded, cradle to grave, by corporate-affected government or corporate personnel, which suck, to enable vampirism and burgling, of turds, which enables turdburglars, to turn our lives, to a pile of crap, so we are then hosed off our piles, to allow burglars, to sift through our abandoned drawers, for any likely nuggets. Joe Blow stank, and it's good he died, already.

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