The distrust of wit is the beginning of tyranny.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- When people stop valuing intelligence and critical thinking, authoritarian control often follows.
- In plain terms
- Disrespecting smart thinking leads to oppression.
- What can you take from it?
- Value wit to prevent tyranny.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What values protect society from authoritarianism?
- How does dismissing intelligence harm communities?
Another view
Tyranny can arise from fear or ignorance without explicitly targeting wit.
More from Edward Abbey
Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.
Permalink to quote #35 No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets.
Permalink to quote #37 Orthodoxy is a relaxation of the mind accompanied by a stiffening of the heart.
Permalink to quote #34
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