Anatole France Quotes

From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step.

Those who are convinced they have a monopoly on The Truth always feel that they are only saving the world when they slaughter the heretics.

Claiming that you have got the truth wrapped up does breed violence and intolerance.

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 belief that there is only one truth, and that oneself is in possession of it, is the root of all evil in the world.

There is only one step from fanaticism to barbarism.

It's never a good sign when extremism becomes the norm.

In the devil's theology, the important thing is to be absolutely right and to prove that everybody else is absolutely wrong.

Toward no crimes have men shown themselves so cold- bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of belief.

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.

Moral certainty can deafen people to any truth other than their own.

If we know anything about man, it's that he's not pacific. The temptation to butcher anyone considered undesirable seems to be a common temptation, not always resisted.

Bigotry murders religion to frighten fools with her ghost.

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

Extremism in defense of liberty is not a vice, but I denounce political extremism, of the left or the right, based on duplicity, falsehood, fear, violence and threats when they endanger liberty.

We must recognize the fact that many Nazis, Marxists and Fascists believe passionately in their fundamental rightness, and allow nothing to hinder them from their goal in the pursuit of their mission.

Birds of a lawless, bigoted feather bully together.

I don't think any extremism is rational.

Fanaticism and terrorism have no place in Islam.

Fanaticism obliterates the feelings of humanity.

I cannot determine what people or nations should do, but I do think that extremism gives birth to following and subsequent extremism.

We cannot judge Christianity by the Ku Klux Klan and we cannot judge Islam by the Taliban.

One of the most constant characteristics of beliefs is their intolerance. The stronger the belief, the greater its intolerance. Men dominated by a certitude cannot tolerate those who do not accept it.

Sectarianism, bigotry, and it's horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful Earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now.

Opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained with the greatest violence.