--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When they find what they don't like…" description: "\"“When they find what they don't like , they destroy it. Because it scares them-and you girls would scare them as much as anything they've ever seen.' '..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85a/gordon-dahlquist-35354_acceptance_when-they-find-what-they-don-t-like-they_1158152.jpg" --- # When they find what they don't like , they destroy it… ![“When they find what they don't like , they destroy it. Because it scares them-and you girls would scare them as much as anything they've ever seen.' 'Why?' asked Isobel. 'Because . . . because of what they believe.” quote by Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85a/gordon-dahlquist-35354_acceptance_when-they-find-what-they-don-t-like-they_1158152.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85a/gordon-dahlquist-35354_acceptance_when-they-find-what-they-don-t-like-they_1158152.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85a/gordon-dahlquist-35354_acceptance_when-they-find-what-they-don-t-like-they_1158152.jpg) > ““When they find what they don't like , they destroy it. Because it scares them-and you girls would scare them as much as anything they've ever seen.' 'Why?' asked Isobel. 'Because . . . because of what they believe.”” [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People destroy what they fear, especially ideas that threaten their beliefs. **In simple terms:** Fear drives destruction of disliked things. Key Takeaway Challenge fear, protect ideas. Themes fear destruction beliefs Mood critical provocative Type literary social commentary When to use this quote - censorship - activism - cultural change Key Concepts psychology social control Questions to Reflect On - What beliefs are most threatened today? - How can societies protect dissenting ideas? A Different Perspective Destruction can also stem from power motives, not just fear. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acceptance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acceptance/) [Beliefs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beliefs/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) [Unknown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unknown/) ## Related quotes > [“Is thinking small?" asked Isobel. "Small as air." May tapped my head with her finger. "And just as big.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-dahlquist/is-thinking-small-asked-isobel-small-as-air-may-tapped-my-head-with/) [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) > [Girls are scary. Large groups of girls scare the crap out of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-stewart/girls-are-scary-large-groups-of-girls-scare-the-crap-out-of-me/) [Kristen Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-stewart/) > [Girls scare me more than boys. Boys are cruel. Girls are mean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-anne-peters/girls-scare-me-more-than-boys-boys-are-cruel-girls-are-mean/) [Julie Anne Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-anne-peters/) > [I've always found a cure for the blues is wandering into something unknown, and resting there, before coming back to whatever weight you were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-sawyer/i-ve-always-found-a-cure-for-the-blues-is-wandering-into-something/) [Diane Sawyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-sawyer/) > [I am wary of unknown street food, available in plenty in places such as Singapore and Malaysia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vijay-antony/i-am-wary-of-unknown-street-food-available-in-plenty-in-places-such/) [Vijay Antony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vijay-antony/) > [Don't you just love watching people say they're gonna kill themselves because they get yelled at? Then you look at a different life, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naquitta-faith/don-t-you-just-love-watching-people-say-they-re-gonna-kill-themselves/) [Naquitta Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naquitta-faith/) > [Science is about exploring the unknown and cannot offer guarantees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-postrel/science-is-about-exploring-the-unknown-and-cannot-offer-guarantees/) [Virginia Postrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-postrel/) > [What puzzles me is the way that some of the smaller, unknown chateaux imagine that because Chinese millionaires pay ludicrous sums for the great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-hoggart/what-puzzles-me-is-the-way-that-some-of-the-smaller-unknown-chateaux/) [Simon Hoggart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-hoggart/) > [Fake friends tell me what I wanna hear. true friends tell me what I don't wanna hear but its the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-kim/fake-friends-tell-me-what-i-wanna-hear-true-friends-tell-me-what-i/) [Kim Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-kim/) > [I get offers all the time from film makers, but they are unknown quantities. I don't go there and do experiments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-aykroyd/i-get-offers-all-the-time-from-film-makers-but-they-are-unknown/) [Dan Aykroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-aykroyd/) > [I feel like you stabbed my heart out of my chest.. drained my energy and stole my soul.. I feel so empty and shattered..…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brokengirl143/i-feel-like-you-stabbed-my-heart-out-of-my-chest-drained-my-energy/) Brokengirl143 > [The fact of the matter is that the Internet has brought together millions of people who trust one another for reasons that are unknown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-huh/the-fact-of-the-matter-is-that-the-internet-has-brought-together/) [Ben Huh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-huh/) > [I had always been scared of the unknown, and I think it had a lot to do with a lack of self-confidence (and wearing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-levy/i-had-always-been-scared-of-the-unknown-and-i-think-it-had-a-lot-to/) [Dan Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-levy/) > [It's a great story for us whenever an entrepreneur makes a crazy amount of money and we get to tell the world about it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lacy/it-s-a-great-story-for-us-whenever-an-entrepreneur-makes-a-crazy/) [Sarah Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lacy/) > [I'm just a girl trying to find a way in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-just-a-girl-trying-to-find-a-way-in-this-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Gordon Dahlquist > [It’s impossible to read The Poison Belt, written in 1913, and not see in its exterminating vision a shadow of the coming war that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-dahlquist/it-s-impossible-to-read-the-poison-belt-written-in-1913-and-not-see/) [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) > [“I didn't understand her being gone, either. I had seen her fall. Now her part of any conversation would always be unsaid, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-dahlquist/i-didn-t-understand-her-being-gone-either-i-had-seen-her-fall-now-her/) [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) > [“This was how people were able to do things when they didn't want to - they made themselves feel something else, like anger, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-dahlquist/this-was-how-people-were-able-to-do-things-when-they-didn-t-want-to/) [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) > [“but a man did not acquire so much gold brocade without learning to swallow his own desire”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-dahlquist/but-a-man-did-not-acquire-so-much-gold-brocade-without-learning-to/) [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) > [“each man braces his fear against his love. What you love may change. But if you love still, your fear remains”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-dahlquist/each-man-braces-his-fear-against-his-love-what-you-love-may-change/) [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) > [“There are so many ways to tell time-one way with clocks and watches and sunsets, or other ways with how many times a person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-dahlquist/there-are-so-many-ways-to-tell-time-one-way-with-clocks-and-watches/) [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) > [“She did not especially appreciate children either, but could be kind to them when they were silent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-dahlquist/she-did-not-especially-appreciate-children-either-but-could-be-kind/) [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) > [“Did not pleasure depend on an architecture of perspective--on contrast and delay, withholding and loss? Did not true enjoyment rely in facing the future?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-dahlquist/did-not-pleasure-depend-on-an-architecture-of-perspective-on-contrast/) [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) > [“First you say I am a murderer - an agent in league against you - and now I am a deluded heartsick girl! Pray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-dahlquist/first-you-say-i-am-a-murderer-an-agent-in-league-against-you-and-now/) [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) > [“Despite himself he scoffed—a staccato bark of saliva—at the very notion of ladders.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-dahlquist/despite-himself-he-scoffed-a-staccato-bark-of-saliva-at-the-very/) [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) > [“Chang believed that learning was dangerous and best suited for private contemplation, not something to put in the service of the highest bidder- as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-dahlquist/chang-believed-that-learning-was-dangerous-and-best-suited-for/) [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) > [“Is thinking small?" asked Isobel. "Small as air." May tapped my head with her finger. "And just as big.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-dahlquist/is-thinking-small-asked-isobel-small-as-air-may-tapped-my-head-with/) [Gordon Dahlquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) [Explore all 13 Gordon Dahlquist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-dahlquist/) ## More Acceptance quotes > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Losing someone is easy, but accepting it is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/losing-someone-is-easy-but-accepting-it-is-hard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When one fib becomes due as it were, you must forge another to take up the old acceptance; and so the stock of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/when-one-fib-becomes-due-as-it-were-you-must-forge-another-to-take-up/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [Acceptance of death when it arrives is one thing, but to allow it to upstage the joys of living is ingratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-blythe/acceptance-of-death-when-it-arrives-is-one-thing-but-to-allow-it-to/) [Ronald Blythe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-blythe/) > [“Loving someone who does not love you back hurts, alot, i know. 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Happiness comes when we stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/let-us-learn-to-accept-and-appreciate-things-now-and-we-ll-find-more/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [“Love first; ask questions later.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-courtney/love-first-ask-questions-later/) [Jeremy Courtney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-courtney/) > [“There was beauty in chaos, she'd just never known it before.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-linsmeier/there-was-beauty-in-chaos-she-d-just-never-known-it-before/) [Amanda Linsmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-linsmeier/) > [Accepting the challenges in life makes it interesting and overcoming them makes it eloquent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/accepting-the-challenges-in-life-makes-it-interesting-and-overcoming/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Acceptance is the only thing you should teach. Be it Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Dalit, you must inculcate acceptance, not tolerance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamal-haasan/acceptance-is-the-only-thing-you-should-teach-be-it-christian-muslim/) [Kamal Haasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamal-haasan/) > [There just seems to be more acceptance now of other kinds of British films, than the picture-postcard ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-roth/there-just-seems-to-be-more-acceptance-now-of-other-kinds-of-british/) [Tim Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-roth/) > [You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. 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