Our age knows nothing but reaction, and leaps from one extreme to another.
—Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) American Christian Theologian
What is fanaticism today is the fashionable creed tomorrow, and trite as the multiplication table a week after.
—Wendell Phillips (1811–84) American Abolitionist, Lawyer, Orator
Fanaticism soberly defined, is the false fire of an over heated mind.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
Radical simply means “grasping things at the root.”
—Angela Davis (b.1944) American Political Activist, Academic
All mass movements generate in their adherents a readiness to die and a proclivity for united action; all of them, irrespective of the doctrine they preach and the program they project, breed fanaticism, enthusiasm, fervent hope, hatred and intolerance; all of them are capable of releasing a powerful flow of activity in certain departments of life; all of them demand blind faith and singlehearted allegiance.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don’t even know that fire is hot.
—George Orwell (1903–50) English Novelist, Journalist
Fanaticism obliterates the feelings of humanity.
—Edward Gibbon (1737–94) English Historian, Politician
I carry from my mother’s womb a fanatic’s heart.
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) Irish Poet, Dramatist
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 Author, Writer, Humorist
I never dared to be radical when young for fear it would make me conservative when old.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
Throughout human history, the apostles of purity, those who have claimed to possess a total explanation, have wrought havoc among mere mixed-up human beings.
—Salman Rushdie (b.1947) Indian-born British Novelist
If you see one cold and vehement at the same time, set him down for a fanatic.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
Extreme positions are not succeeded by moderate ones, but by contrary extreme positions.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
So over violent, or over civil that every man with him was God or Devil.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
We often excuse our own want of philanthropy by giving the name of fanaticism to the more ardent zeal of others.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
My generation of radicals and breakers-down never found anything to take the place of the old virtues of work and courage and the old graces of courtesy and politeness.
—Unknown
The man visited by ecstasies and visions, who takes dreams for realities is an enthusiast; the man who supports his madness with murder is a fanatic.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Fervor is the weapon of choice of the impotent.
—Frantz Fanon (1925–61) French-Martinique Psychoanalyst, Philosopher
It is the nature of men having escaped one extreme, which by force they were constrained long to endure, to run headlong into the other extreme, forgetting that virtue doth always consist in the mean.
—Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) English Courtier, Navigator, Poet
Defined in psychological terms, a fanatic is a man who consciously over-compensates a secret doubt.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
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) American Head of State, Lawyer
The downright fanatic is nearer to the heart of things than the cool and slippery disputant.
—Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–80) American Preacher, Poet
All the reputedly powerful reactionaries are merely paper tigers. The reason is that they are divorced from the people. Look! Was not Hitler a paper tiger? Was Hitler not overthrown? U.S. imperialism has not yet been overthrown and it has the atomic bomb. I believe it also will be overthrown. It, too, is a paper tiger.
—Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chinese Statesman
There is no place in a fanatic’s head where reason can enter.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
Of all things wisdom is the most terrified with epidemical fanaticism, because, of all enemies, it is that against which she is the least able to furnish any kind of resource.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
In the history of mankind, fanaticism has caused more harm than vice.
—Louis Kronenberger (1904–80) American Drama, Literary Critic
Like other revolutionaries I can thank God for the reactionaries. They clarify the issue.
—R. G. Collingwood (1889–1943) English Philosopher, Historian, Archaeologist
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