Bigots Quote by Clarence Darrow
““If today you can take a thing like evolution and make it a crime to teach it in the public school, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools, and the next year you can make it a crime to teach it to the hustings or in the church. At the next session you may ban books and the newspapers. Soon you may set Catholic against Protestant and Protestant against Protestant, and try to foist your own religion upon the minds of men. If you can do one you can do the other. Ignorance and fanaticism is ever busy and needs feeding. Always it is feeding and gloating for more. Today it is the public school teachers, tomorrow the private. The next day the preachers and the lectures, the magazines, the books, the newspapers. After while, your honor, it is the setting of man against man and creed against creed until with flying banners and beating drums we are marching backward to the glorious ages of the sixteenth century when bigots lighted fagots to burn the men who dared to bring any intelligence and enlightenment and culture to the human mind.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Unknown, attributed to Clarence Darrow, early 20th century
Suppressing knowledge through bans leads to a cycle of intolerance, feeding ignorance and fanaticism across institutions.
In simple terms: Banning ideas fuels intolerance.
Key Takeaway
Guard against censorship.
Themes
freedom
education
intolerance
Mood
cautionary
urgent
Type
political
ethical
When to use this quote
- schools
- religious institutions
- media
- public policy
Key Concepts
Censorship
religion
politics
history
Questions to Reflect On
- How can societies balance free speech with harmful ideas?
- What safeguards prevent the spread of fanaticism?
A Different Perspective
The argument may oversimplify complex social dynamics.
