“Zeal ever follows an appearance of truth, and the assured are too apt to be warm; but it is their weak side in argument; zeal being better shown against sin than persons, or their mistakes.”

—  William Penn

143
Fruits of Solitude (1682), Part I

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Zeal ever follows an appearance of truth, and the assured are too apt to be warm; but it is their weak side in argument…" by William Penn?
William Penn photo
William Penn 53
English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, early Quaker… 1644–1718

Related quotes

Perry Anderson photo

“Polemical zeal can produce an fixation on the other side, or sides, of purely hostile intent.”

Perry Anderson (1938) British historian

Source: Spectrum: From Right to Left in the World of Ideas (2005), Foreword, p. xi

Julian (emperor) photo

“Zeal to do all that is in one's power is, in truth, a proof of piety.”

Julian (emperor) (331–363) Roman Emperor, philosopher and writer

As quoted in The Works of the Emperor Julian (1923) by Wilmer Cave France Wright, p. 311; also in The Paganism Reader (2004) edited by Chas S. Clifton, Graham Harvey, p. 26
General sources

Peter Singer photo

“Philosophy is not politics, and we do our best, within our all-too-human limitations, to seek the truth, not to score points against opponents. There is little satisfaction in gaining an easy triumph over a weak opponent while ignoring better arguments against your views.”

Peter Singer (1946) Australian philosopher

'Last Generation': A Response http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/last-generation-a-response/, New York Times, June 16, 2010.

John Locke photo

“I am sure, zeal or love for truth can never permit falsehood to be used in the defence of it.”

John Locke (1632–1704) English philosopher and physician

187
The Reasonableness of Christianity (1695)

Miguel de Unamuno photo
Pope Leo X photo

“Against the Roman Church, you warned, lying teachers are rising, introducing ruinous sects, and drawing upon themselves speedy doom. Their tongues are fire, a restless evil, full of deadly poison. They have bitter zeal, contention in their hearts, and boast and lie against the truth.”

Exsurge Domine (1520)
Context: Give heed to the cause of the holy Roman Church, mother of all churches and teacher of the faith, whom you by the order of God, have consecrated by your blood. Against the Roman Church, you warned, lying teachers are rising, introducing ruinous sects, and drawing upon themselves speedy doom. Their tongues are fire, a restless evil, full of deadly poison. They have bitter zeal, contention in their hearts, and boast and lie against the truth.

Zoroaster photo
Franklin D. Roosevelt photo
Chauncey Depew photo

“A witty illustration or an apt story will accomplish more than columns of argument.”

Chauncey Depew (1834–1928) American politician

My Memories of Eighty Years (1922), p. 318

Related topics