
“In wars, boy, fools kill other fools for foolish causes.”
Thom Merrilin
(15 January 1990)
Source: To the Blight
Also in Fallen Angels (Baen Books, 1992) as: "Niven's Law: No cause is so noble that it won't attract fuggheads."
Niven's Laws
Context: 16) There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool following it.
To prove a point, one may seek out a foolish Socialist, thirteenth century Liberal, Scientologist, High Frontier advocate, Mensa member, science fiction fan, Jim Bakker acolyte, Christian, witch, or fanatical devotee of Special Interest Lib. It doesn't really reflect on the cause itself. Ad hominem argument saves time, but it's still a fallacy.
“In wars, boy, fools kill other fools for foolish causes.”
Thom Merrilin
(15 January 1990)
Source: To the Blight
“A fool always finds one still more foolish to admire him.”
Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l'admire.
Variant A fool always finds a greater fool to admire him.
Canto I, l. 232
The Art of Poetry (1674)
cited in «La destra si riconosca nell'antifascismo» http://www.corriere.it/politica/08_settembre_13/fini_antifascismo_ccb8bcec-8175-11dd-95db-00144f02aabc.shtml, Il Corriere della Sera, 13 September 2008).
“Men may live fools, but fools they cannot die.”
Source: Night-Thoughts (1742–1745), Night IV, Line 843.
The Fourfold Treasure (1871) No. 991 http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0991.htm
Patheos, The Cow http://www.patheos.com/blogs/reasonadvocates/2016/01/22/the-cow/ (January 22, 2016)
“The Peerless Malevolence of Redcoat Piers Morgan”, http://www.ilanamercer.com/phprunner/public_article_list_view.php?editid1=692 WorldNetDaily.com, January 18, 2013.
2010s, 2013
“Fools follow rules when the set commands you.”
Bullet in the Head.
Song lyrics, Rage Against the Machine (1992)