"Of all means of destruction the most impressive is fire. It can be seen from far off and it attracts ever more people. It destroys irrevocably: nothing after a fire is the same as it was before. A crowd setting fire to something feel irresistible; so long as the fire spreads, everyone will join it and everything hostile will be destroyed. After the destruction, crowd and fire die away..."

Elias Canetti, Crowds and Power