A great empire and little minds go ill together.
Edmund BurkeRead
Religious persecution may shield itself under the guise of a mistaken and over-zealous piety.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Religious persecution can masquerade as genuine religious devotion, obscuring its true nature.
In this quote, Edmund Burke highlights the irony that those who persecute others for their beliefs may do so under the pretense of piety. This suggests that zealotry can lead individuals to commit acts of intolerance and injustice while believing they are acting in accordance with a higher moral or spiritual directive, thus warning against the dangers of extreme fervor in any ideology.
Themes
ReligionPersecutionPietyZealotryIntolerance
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the historical context of religious conflicts.
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Society can overlook murder, adultery or swindling; it never forgives preaching of a new gospel.
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The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
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