Johann Kaspar Lavater Quotes
If you see one cold and vehement at the same time, set him down for a fanatic.
Lavater, Johann Caspar. Aphorisms on Man. Translated by Henry Fuseli, J. Johnson, 1788, p. 126.
This quotation is often given by those who believe that nothing has really changed regarding the Arabs and non-Islamic Westerners in the last century. While the support of dictators, Israel and support for that democracy, the artificial Western imposed borders, 9-11, or the Iraq war is often cited as the cause of Arab hostility and murderous aggression, as this quotation demonstrates, the problems and attitudes and behaviors existed long before any of these occurred. The borders were not set until after WWI and all the other causes occurred almost 50 years later, Yet there was still the propensity for fanaticism and violence. Sikes actually was one of those who was to determine the Arab borders, making one of the first “suggested” maps of the area for the English.
The King, a religious exremist fanatic, was a great supporter of the Inquisition whose excesses were horrible during his reign.
A slight variant of this quotation was used by U. S. Senator Alan K. Simpson—{621186}.
Johann Kaspar (or Caspar) Lavater was a Swiss poet, writer, philosopher, physiognomist and theologian.
