:The lesson is, I think, a fairly clear one. In the absence of institutions and education by which the environment is so successfully reported that the realities of public life stand out sharply against self-centered opinion, the common interests very largely elude public opinion entirely, and can be managed only by a specialized class whose personal interests reach beyond the locality. This class is irresponsible, for it acts upon information that is not common property, in situations that the public at large does not conceive, and it can be held to account only on the accomplished fact. (Public Opinion, page 195)
==Books by Lippmann==
*Walter Lippmann Public Opinion, [http://books.google.co.uk/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&id=S8TqN1PkglMC&dq=%22walter+lippmann%22&prev=http://books.google.co.uk/books%3Flr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26q%3D%2522walter%2Blippmann%2522&pg=PP1&printsec=0&lpg=PP1&sig=yHCfsJrGXLWkRB8BvDalUYepLgM Google Online books]
==External links==
*Extracts from Walter Lippmann, ''Public Opinion'', 1922, http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Democracy/Lipp_PubOpin_Patronage.html
Extracts from Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion, 1922, http[[Category://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Democracy/Lipp_PubOpin_Patronage.html Walter Lippmann Public Opinion, [http://books.google.co.uk/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&id=S8TqN1PkglMC&dq=%22walter+lippmann%22&prev=http://books.google.co.uk/books%3Flr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26q%3D%2522walter%2Blippmann%2522&pg=PP1&printsec=0&lpg=PP1&sig=yHCfsJrGXLWkRB8BvDalUYepLgM Google Online booksrelations industry pioneers]]