Fanatics And Fanaticism

(181 votes)   In the fevered state of our country, no good can ever result from any attempt to set one of these fiery zealots to rights, either in fact or principle. They are determined as to the facts they will believe, and the opinions on which they will act. Get by them, therefore, as you would by an angry bull; it is not for a man of sense to dispute the road with such an animal.

Thomas Jefferson
1743-1826, Third President of the USA

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(141 votes)   The most dangerous madmen are those created by religion, and people whose aim is to disrupt society always know how to make good use of them on occasion.

Denis Diderot
1713-1784, French Philosopher

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(108 votes)   I carry from my mother's womb a fanatic's heart.

William Butler Yeats
1865-1939, Irish Poet, Playwright.

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(107 votes)   If you see one cold and vehement at the same time, set him down for a fanatic.

Johann Kaspar Lavater
1741-1801, Swiss Theologian, Mystic

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(82 votes)   There is no place in a fanatic's head where reason can enter.

Napoleon Bonaparte
1769-1821, French General, Emperor

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(78 votes)   A fanatic is a man that does what he thinks the Lord would do if He knew the facts of the case.

Finley Peter Dunne
1867-1936, American Journalist, Humorist

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(77 votes)   In the history of mankind, fanaticism has caused more harm than vice.

Louis Kronenberger

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(77 votes)   The fanatic is incorruptible: if he kills for an idea, he can just as well get himself killed for one; in either case, tyrant or martyr, he is a monster.

E. M. Cioran
1911-, Rumanian-born French Philosopher

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(75 votes)   Fanaticism soberly defined, is the false fire of an over heated mind.

William Cowper
1731-1800, British Poet

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(71 votes)   Just as every conviction begins as a whim so does every emancipator serve his apprenticeship as a crank. A fanatic is a great leader who is just entering the room.

Heywood Broun
1888-1939, American Journalist, Novelist

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(56 votes)   Mere human beings can't afford to be fanatical about anything. Not even about justice or loyalty. The fanatic for justice ends by murdering a million helpless people to clear a space for his law-courts. If we are to survive on this planet, there must be compromises.

Storm Jameson
1891-1986, British Writer

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(55 votes)   Wisdom becomes nonsense in the mouth of a fanatic.

Otto Schuwdrmer

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