This review of the quark‐level linear σ model (QLLσM) is based upon the dynamical realization of the pseudoscalar and scalar mesons as a linear representation of SU(2)× SU(2) chiral symmetry, with the symmetry weakly broken by current quark masses. In its simplest SU(2) incarnation, with two non‐strange quark flavors and three colors, this nonperturbative theory, which can be selfconsistently bootstrapped in loop order, is shown to accurately reproduce a host of low‐energy observables with only one parameter, namely the pion decay constant fπ. Extending the scheme to SU(3) by including the strange quark, equally good results are obtained for many strong, electromagnetic, and weak processes just with two extra constants, viz. fK and <π |Hweak|K>. Links are made with the vector‐meson‐dominance model, the BCS theory of superconductivity, and chiral‐symmetry restoration at high temperature. Finally, these ideas are cautiously generalized to the electroweak sector, including the W, Z, and Higgs bosons, and also to CP violation.