#fanaticism

Fanaticism is overcompensation for doubt. ↗

— Robertson Davies

#fanaticism

In morals what begins in fear usually ends in wickedness; in religion what begins in fear usually ends in fanaticism. Fear, either as a principle or a motive, is the beginning of all evil. ↗

— Anna Jameson

#begins #either #ends #evil #fanaticism

But as in all cults, what's central to the Communist Party is the belief system and the elimination of nuance. From there you're very slowly led down the road to fanaticism and mass murder. ↗

— Alexei Sayle

#central #communist #communist party #cults #down

Fanatics can justify practically any atrocity to themselves. The more untenable their position becomes, the harder they hold to it, and the worse the things they are willing to do to support it. ↗

— Mercedes Lackey

#fantasy #prejudice #religion #truth #change

...history has shown that the most terrible crimes against love have been committed in the name of fanatically defended doctrines. ↗

— Paul Tillich

#fanaticism #love #faith

It is precisely that requirement of shared worship that has been the principal source of suffering for individual man and the human race since the beginning of history. In their efforts to impose universal worship, men have unsheathed their swords and killed one another. They have invented gods and challenged each other: "Discard your gods and worship mine or I will destroy both your gods and you! ↗

— Fyodor Dostoyevsky

#fanaticism #freedom-of-religion #war #worship #freedom

The mistake we make is to attribute to religions the errors and fanaticism of human beings. ↗

— Tahar Ben Jelloun

#beings #errors #fanaticism #human #human beings

The fundamentalist seeks to bring down a great deal more than buildings. Such people are against, to offer just a brief list, freedom of speech, a multi-party political system, universal adult suffrage, accountable government, Jews, homosexuals, women's rights, pluralism, secularism, short skits, dancing, beardlessness, evolution theory, sex. There are tyrants, not Muslims. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that we should now define ourselves not only by what we are for but by what we are against. I would reverse that proposition, because in the present instance what we are against is a no brainer. Suicidist assassins ram wide-bodied aircraft into the World Trade Center and Pentagon and kill thousands of people: um, I'm against that. But what are we for? What will we risk our lives to defend? Can we unanimously concur that all the items in the preceding list -- yes, even the short skirts and the dancing -- are worth dying for? The fundamentalist believes that we believe in nothing. In his world-view, he has his absolute certainties, while we are sunk in sybaritic indulgences. To prove him wrong, we must first know that he is wrong. We must agree on what matters: kissing in public places, bacon sandwiches, disagreement, cutting-edge fashion, literature, generosity, water, a more equitable distribution of the world's resources, movies, music, freedom of thought, beauty, love. These will be our weapons. Not by making war but by the unafraid way we choose to live shall we defeat them. How to defeat terrorism? Don't be terrorized. Don't let fear rule your life. Even if you are scared. ↗

— Salman Rushdie

#fanaticism #freedom #fundamentalism #human-rights #terrorism

Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched." [My Uncle Sosthenes] ↗

— Guy de Maupassant

#fanaticism #patriotism #religion #wars #religion

From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step. ↗

— Denis Diderot

#fanaticism #only #step