If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.

The remark rejects the idea that popularity confers truth or wisdom. By choosing an enormous number (“fifty million”), it dramatizes how social consensus, mass opinion, or political majorities can normalize error without changing its underlying quality. The aphorism is often invoked as a defense of independent judgment against propaganda, fashion, or crowd psychology: a claim remains foolish even if widely repeated, and conversely an unpopular view may still be correct. Its enduring appeal lies in its blunt moral logic—truth and reason are not democratic outcomes—and in its warning about the ease with which large groups can be persuaded to endorse nonsense.

1) “If fifty million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.”
2) “If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.”
3) “If a hundred million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.”