Denise Mina Quotes

We always think we are right, and - search as I have - there is no evil under the sun that somebody somewhere won't argue is actually a good, no idiocy that hasn't got its perfectly serious defenders, and no tyrant, past or present - no matter how bloody - without some bunch of zealot schmucks to defend him or his reputation till the last breath in their bodies - or preferably somebody else's.

I'm intrigued by fanatics - people who are seduced by the promise, or the illusion, of the absolute.

Those who believe that they have absolute truth and the only moral system are destructive both to themselves and to those whom they try to convert.

The enemy of idealism is zealotry.

A fanatic is a nut who has something to believe in.

Fanaticism obliterates the feelings of humanity.

Terrorists are dangerous, not because they are immoral or amoral but because they are hyper moral. They justify their behavior in profoundly moral language.

A zealot is a person who, having forgotten his original purpose, redoubles his efforts.

From the saintly and single-minded idealist to the fanatic is often but a step.

Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.

It is a dangerously short step from frustration to fanaticism.

My skepticism warns me of the danger of becoming a fanatic, a danger which no faith has yet averted.

Fanaticism is the danger of the world, and always has been, and has done untold harm. I might almost say that I was fanatical against fanaticism.

The religion of Hell is patriotism.

'Savior Of Nothing' calls out the would-be social justice warriors of the world who become so enveloped in fighting so passionately that they become exactly what they're trying to correct. They preach acceptance so much they become unaccepting.

Heartless zealotry, whether from the religious right or from the teachers' union on the left, is always troubling.

I think the worst thing we can do is to concede to fanaticism its devotion, say. Well, you have to understand, these people are really fanatics, so we should back down from them. I think if journalists start doing that then they won't be practicing journalism. If satirists start doing that then they won't be practicing satire.

Still more pathetic is the total collapse of moral fanaticism. Fanatics think that their single-minded principles qualify them to do battle with the powers of evil; but like a bull they rush at the red cloak instead of the person who is holding it; he exhausts himself and is beaten. He gets entangled in non-essentials and falls into the trap set by cleverer people.

The gun-control crusade today is like the Prohibition crusade 100 years ago. It is a shared zealotry that binds the self-righteous know-it-alls in a warm fellowship of those who see themselves as fighting on the side of the angels against the forces of evil. It is a lofty role that they are not about to give up for anything so mundane as facts - or even the lives of other people.

The less depth a belief system has, the greater the fervency with which its adherents embrace it. The most vociferous, the most fanatical are those whose cobbled faith is founded on the shakiest grounds.

there is no fanatic like a religious fanatic.

Party spirit enlists a man's virtues in the cause of his vices.

No human beings are more dangerous than those who have suffered for a belief

I don't believe in Jesus or God. But I do believe that fundamentalists in religion or anything else are bad, and that they have more hate than love.

Everybody knows that fanaticism is religion caricatured; bears, indeed, about the same relation to it that a monkey bears to a man; yet, with many, contempt of fanaticism is received as a sure sign of hostility to religion.