I like to watch the news, because I don't like people very much and when you watch the news... if you ever had an idea that people were really terrible, you could watch the news and know that you're right.
Frank ZappaRead
The whole foundation of Christianity is based on the idea that intellectualism is the work of the Devil. Remember the apple on the tree? Okay, it was the Tree of Knowledge. You eat this apple, you're going to be as smart as God. We can't have that.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the conflict between knowledge and religious belief.
Frank Zappa's quote provocatively suggests that the foundation of Christianity, and by extension many religious beliefs, stems from a distrust of intellectualism. By referencing the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Zappa evokes the idea that the pursuit of knowledge is often seen as dangerous or forbidden, implying that systems of belief may seek to suppress critical thinking and enlightenment for fear of losing control over their followers.
Themes
IntellectualismKnowledgeReligionCritiqueBeliefs
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about faith and reason, this quote might be used to illustrate skepticism towards anti-intellectual attitudes.
More from Frank Zappa
All quotes βThe richest people in the world aren't particularly smart or happy. And the happiest people in the world aren't particularly smart or rich.β¦ That leaves me making music. But we can't talk about that.
Frank ZappaRead
Bad facts make bad law, and people who write bad laws are in my opinion more dangerous than songwriters who celebrate sexuality. Freedom of speech, freedom of religious thought, and the right to due process for composers, performers and retailers are imperiled if the PMRC and the major labels consummate this nasty bargain.
Frank ZappaRead
Don't mind your make-up, you'd better make your mind up.
Frank ZappaRead
Music is always a commentary on society.
Frank ZappaRead
I'm more interested in melodic things. I think the biggest challenge when you go to play a solo is trying to invent a melody on the spot.
Frank ZappaRead
Similar quotes
This is what I know. I look like my father. My father disappeared when he was seventeen years old. Hannah once told me that there is something unnatural about being older than your father ever got to be. When you can say that at the age of seventeen, it's a different kind of devastating.
Melina MarchettaRead
Only through the conscious action of the working masses in city and country can it be brought to life, only through the people's highest intellectual maturity and inexhaustible idealism can it be brought safely through all storms and find its way to port.
Rosa LuxemburgRead
Forgive, son; men are men; they needs must err.
EuripidesRead
When men, engaged in unjustifiable pursuits, are aware that obstructions may come from a quarter which bare apprehension of opposition from doing what they would with eagerness rush into if no such external impediments were to be feared.
Alexander HamiltonRead
Standards are always out of date. That's what makes them standards.
Alan BennettRead
Every time somebody speaks of my honesty, there is someone who quivers inside me.
Albert CamusRead