“Men are always the same. Fear makes them cruel.”
Source: The Moon and Sixpence (1919), Ch. 55, p. 204
“It is the certainty that they possess the truth that makes men cruel.”
Last update June 3, 2021.
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Anatole France 122
French writer 1844–1924Related quotes
“The truth is cruel, but it can be loved, and it makes free those who have loved it.”
George Santayana
(1863–1952) 20th-century Spanish-American philosopher associated with Pragmatism
Source: Little Essays (1921), p. 107
“Intelligent men are cruel. Stupid men are monstrously cruel.”
The Star Rover
Variant: Intelligent men are cruel. Stupid men are monstrously cruel
“Weak men are apt to be cruel.”
George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax
(1633–1695) English politician
http://books.google.com/books?id=K6lsEtMo1KMC&q=%22Weak+men+are+apt+to+be+cruel%22&pg=PA128#v=onepage
Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Reflections (1750), Moral Thoughts and Reflections
“Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.”
Edward Abbey
(1927–1989) American author and essayist
A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (Vox Clamantis in Deserto) (1990)
“Doubts are more cruel than the worst of truths.”
Les doutes sont fâcheux plus que toute autre chose.
Act III, sc. v
Le Misanthrope (1666)
Karl Popper
(1902–1994) Austrian-British philosopher of science
In Search of a Better World (1984)
Context: Our aim as scientists is objective truth; more truth, more interesting truth, more intelligible truth. We cannot reasonably aim at certainty. Once we realize that human knowledge is fallible, we realize also that we can never be completely certain that we have not made a mistake.
Bertrand Russell
(1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
In London Calling http://books.google.pt/books?id=l80fAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Men+tend+to+have+the+beliefs+that+suit+their+passions.%22&dq=%22Men+tend+to+have+the+beliefs+that+suit+their+passions.%22&hl=pt-PT&sa=X&ei=q9mEUcj-AoqM7AbW3IGoBQ&ved=0CFMQ6AEwBw (1947), p. 18
1940s