Isaiah Berlin
(1909–1997) Russo-British Jewish social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas
Five Essays on Liberty (2002), Introduction (1969)
Context: Those, no doubt, are in some way fortunate who have brought themselves, or have been brought by others, to obey some ultimate principle before the bar of which all problems can be brought. Single-minded monists, ruthless fanatics, men possessed by an all-embracing coherent vision do not know the doubts and agonies of those who cannot wholly blind themselves to reality.
