--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But their determination to banish fools…" description: "\"But their determination to banish fools foundered ultimately in the installation of absolute idiots.\" — Basil Bunting" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6b/basil-bunting-27261_absolutes_but-their-determination-to-banish-fools_1136334.png" --- # But their determination to banish fools foundered… ![“But their determination to banish fools foundered ultimately in the installation of absolute idiots.” quote by Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6b/basil-bunting-27261_absolutes_but-their-determination-to-banish-fools_1136334.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6b/basil-bunting-27261_absolutes_but-their-determination-to-banish-fools_1136334.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6b/basil-bunting-27261_absolutes_but-their-determination-to-banish-fools_1136334.png) > “But their determination to banish fools foundered ultimately in the installation of absolute idiots.” [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Attempts to eliminate foolishness failed, leading to the rise of even greater stupidity. **In simple terms:** Trying to ban fools created idiots. Key Takeaway Beware unintended consequences of extreme measures. Themes power folly consequences society Mood cautionary critical Type satirical philosophical When to use this quote - Policy reforms - education systems - leadership decisions - social movements Key Concepts Political theory human error Questions to Reflect On - What are the risks of over‑correcting? - How can we balance wisdom and tolerance? A Different Perspective Overzealous actions may backfire. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) [Determination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/determination/) [Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) [Fools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fools/) [Idiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idiot/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Stupidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupidity/) ## Related quotes > [People who think they are suddenly gonna be a changed person once its the new year, are absolute idiots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-who-think-they-are-suddenly-gonna-be-a-changed-person-once-its/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“World is so full of idiots that you can't even imagine to escape. The only solution is isolation. But it still spares one!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/world-is-so-full-of-idiots-that-you-can-t-even-imagine-to-escape-the/) [Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/) > [I don't necessarily think that installation is the only way to go. It's just a label for certain kinds of arrangements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kruger/i-don-t-necessarily-think-that-installation-is-the-only-way-to-go-it/) [Barbara Kruger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kruger/) > [All of the significant art of today stems from Conceptual art. This includes the art of installation, political, feminist and socially directed art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/all-of-the-significant-art-of-today-stems-from-conceptual-art-this/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [I became much more interested in plot when I really didn't consider myself a writer anymore. When I was in an art context and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vito-acconci/i-became-much-more-interested-in-plot-when-i-really-didn-t-consider/) [Vito Acconci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vito-acconci/) > [Real philosophy is like trying to read an alarm system installation manual in Korean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hardwick/real-philosophy-is-like-trying-to-read-an-alarm-system-installation/) [Chris Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hardwick/) > [Since the moment of the United Nations' inception, untold energies have been expended by governments not only toward the exclusion of persons of principle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/since-the-moment-of-the-united-nations-inception-untold-energies-have/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [Antiwar protestors actually sabotaged and caused a huge amount of damage to military installations and military property during the war. I'm related to someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-carlson/antiwar-protestors-actually-sabotaged-and-caused-a-huge-amount-of/) [Tucker Carlson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-carlson/) > [I consider myself fortunate that photography exists, because otherwise I'd be stuck in the tragedy of ephemeralness that can come with installation art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandy-skoglund/i-consider-myself-fortunate-that-photography-exists-because-otherwise/) [Sandy Skoglund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandy-skoglund/) > [We need to send hundreds of millions of dollars down to our public high schools, vocational colleges, and community colleges to begin training people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/we-need-to-send-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-down-to-our-public/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [Just as the development of earth art and installation art stemmed from the idea of taking art out of the galleries, the basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/just-as-the-development-of-earth-art-and-installation-art-stemmed/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [I can be working on a collection and a film at the same time. It can take a lot out of me, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hussein-chalayan/i-can-be-working-on-a-collection-and-a-film-at-the-same-time-it-can/) [Hussein Chalayan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hussein-chalayan/) > [The geometry reveals five development direction for applications (each with endless possibilities); dividing, dwelling, trestle, fenestration and artistic installation. I find these enabled designs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dror-benshetrit/the-geometry-reveals-five-development-direction-for-applications-each/) Dror Benshetrit > [Originally, one of the reasons I was drawn to photography, as opposed to painting or sculpture or installation, is that of all the arts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-crewdson/originally-one-of-the-reasons-i-was-drawn-to-photography-as-opposed/) [Gregory Crewdson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-crewdson/) > [In Tunisia, the so-called Yasmin revolution has led to the installation of a relatively moderate Islamic government. Whether or not that means democracy will,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-van-creveld/in-tunisia-the-so-called-yasmin-revolution-has-led-to-the/) [Martin Van Creveld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-van-creveld/) ## More by Basil Bunting > [“Poet appointed dare not decline to walk among the bogus...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/poet-appointed-dare-not-decline-to-walk-among-the-bogus/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [“The mason stirs. Words! Pens are too light. Take a chisel to write.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/the-mason-stirs-words-pens-are-too-light-take-a-chisel-to-write/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [The times are squalid. They always were. It is a poet's duty to hold the line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/the-times-are-squalid-they-always-were-it-is-a-poet-s-duty-to-hold/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [Always carry a corkscrew and the wine shall provide itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/always-carry-a-corkscrew-and-the-wine-shall-provide-itself/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [All you can usually say about a poem or a picture is, 'Look at it, listen to it.' Whether you listen to a piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/all-you-can-usually-say-about-a-poem-or-a-picture-is-look-at-it/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [“It tastes good, garlic and salt in it, with the half-sweet white wine of Orvieto on scanty grass under great trees where the ramparts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/it-tastes-good-garlic-and-salt-in-it-with-the-half-sweet-white-wine/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [Praise the green earth. Chance has appointed her home, workshop, larder, middenpit. Her lousy skin scabbed here and there by cities provides us with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/praise-the-green-earth-chance-has-appointed-her-home-workshop-larder/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [The mystic purchases a moment of exhilaration with a lifetime of confusion; and the confusion is infectious and destructive. It is confusing and destructive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/the-mystic-purchases-a-moment-of-exhilaration-with-a-lifetime-of/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [To appreciate present conditions, collate them with those of antiquity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/to-appreciate-present-conditions-collate-them-with-those-of-antiquity/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [Whether you listen to a piece of music, or a poem, or look at a picture or a jug, or a piece of sculpture,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/whether-you-listen-to-a-piece-of-music-or-a-poem-or-look-at-a-picture/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [Compose aloud: poetry is a sound. Never explain- your reader is as smart as you. Your reader is not just any reader, but is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/compose-aloud-poetry-is-a-sound-never-explain-your-reader-is-as-smart/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [Can a moment of madness make up for an age of consent?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/can-a-moment-of-madness-make-up-for-an-age-of-consent/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [Name and date split in soft slate a few months obliterate. 166](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/name-and-date-split-in-soft-slate-a-few-months-obliterate-166/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [“...and always the cutting out and the buggering about and the buggering about and the rewriting and so on...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/and-always-the-cutting-out-and-the-buggering-about-and-the-buggering/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) > [Men are fools to invest in real estate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/men-are-fools-to-invest-in-real-estate/) [Basil Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) [Explore all 20 Basil Bunting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/) ## More Absolutes quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/there-is-no-perfect-justice-just-as-there-is-no-absolute-in-ethics/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [ Their \[the U.S.’s\] defense budget in absolute figures is almost 25 times bigger than Russia’s. This is what in defense is referred to as… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/their-the-u-s-s-defense-budget-in-absolute-figures-is-almost-25-times/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Conservative political opinion in America cleaves to the tradition of the judge as passive interpreter, believing that his absolute loyalty to authoritative law is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/conservative-political-opinion-in-america-cleaves-to-the-tradition-of/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [So many times we come to Jesus in worship and ask Him for things that He already IS and has already done... What a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-nockels/so-many-times-we-come-to-jesus-in-worship-and-ask-him-for-things-that/) Christy Nockels > [Those are decisions only the Lord will make. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/those-are-decisions-only-the-lord-will-make-i-believe-the-love-of-god/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“The Gods know what it is to be eternal, and they love to toy with mortals who use absolutes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/the-gods-know-what-it-is-to-be-eternal-and-they-love-to-toy-with/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [The only "definitive truth" for Buddhism is the absolute negation of any one truth as the Definitive Truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-only-definitive-truth-for-buddhism-is-the-absolute-negation-of/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [The nature of the Absolute is neither perceptible nor imperceptible; and with phenomena it is just the same. But to one who has discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huangbo-xiyun/the-nature-of-the-absolute-is-neither-perceptible-nor-imperceptible/) [Huangbo Xiyun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huangbo-xiyun/) > [Joining a company is an act that calls for absolute loyalty in big matters and little ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-watson/joining-a-company-is-an-act-that-calls-for-absolute-loyalty-in-big/) [Thomas Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-watson/) > [In fine, a life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-fine-a-life-of-good-or-evil-the-hope-of-heaven-or-the-despair-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 2,016 Absolutes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But their determination to banish fools foundered ultimately in the installation of absolute idiots.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Basil Bunting" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/but-their-determination-to-banish-fools-foundered-ultimately-in-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absolutes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/but-their-determination-to-banish-fools-foundered-ultimately-in-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6b/basil-bunting-27261_absolutes_but-their-determination-to-banish-fools_1136334.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6b/basil-bunting-27261_absolutes_but-their-determination-to-banish-fools_1136334.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6b/basil-bunting-27261_absolutes_but-their-determination-to-banish-fools_1136334.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But their determination to banish fools foundered ultimately in the installation of absolute idiots.” — Basil Bunting", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Basil Bunting", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-bunting/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But their determination to banish fools...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/but-their-determination-to-banish-fools-foundered-ultimately-in-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-bunting/but-their-determination-to-banish-fools-foundered-ultimately-in-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```