“The people are like a flock of sheep, following where leaders lead them.”
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Probable attribution
This saying is widely associated with Mahatma Gandhi, but the attribution is not supported by a reliable primary source.
Likely origin: Attributed to Gandhi, An Autobiography (Experiments with Truth); remark likening people to a flock of sheep following their leaders.
About this quote
Crowds tend to move in whatever direction they're pointed, which cuts two ways. It hands leaders enormous responsibility for where they steer, and it warns each person against quietly outsourcing their own judgment to whoever happens to be standing in front.
When to use it
- A team keeps a flawed process for a year simply because the lead introduced it and no one questioned it.
- Shoppers pile into a stock because everyone else is, without ever checking the numbers themselves.
- A new hire copies the office's bad habits before pausing to ask whether any of them make sense.