--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When they start killing the men of ideas…" description: "\"When they start killing the men of ideas, you can be sure the Devil is laughing.\" — Mark Mills" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/mark-mills-32973_devil_when-they-start-killing-the-men-of-ideas_758815.png" --- # When they start killing the men of ideas, you can be sure… ![“When they start killing the men of ideas, you can be sure the Devil is laughing.” quote by Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/mark-mills-32973_devil_when-they-start-killing-the-men-of-ideas_758815.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/mark-mills-32973_devil_when-they-start-killing-the-men-of-ideas_758815.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/mark-mills-32973_devil_when-they-start-killing-the-men-of-ideas_758815.png) > “When they start killing the men of ideas, you can be sure the Devil is laughing.” [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Warns that suppressing creative thinkers invites malevolent forces. **In simple terms:** Killing ideas invites evil. Key Takeaway Protect and nurture creative minds. Themes creativity freedom danger Mood cautionary serious Type political philosophical When to use this quote - academic freedom - artistic communities - innovation policy Key Concepts Censorship philosophy of evil Questions to Reflect On - How do you safeguard dissenting ideas? - What structures support creative risk? A Different Perspective Overstating supernatural metaphor. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Devil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devil/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Killing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killing/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [ Of course the Devil is laughing at folks for believing it \[Big Bang, etc.\]. But hey, it works, it sends 'em to Hell, so… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-hovind/of-course-the-devil-is-laughing-at-folks-for-believing-it-big-bang/) [Kent Hovind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-hovind/) > [Devil laughing like a hyena Losing all the good in my demeanor. I dont wanna go psycho but yo the flow ya know I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tech-n9ne/devil-laughing-like-a-hyena-losing-all-the-good-in-my-demeanor-i-dont/) [Tech N9ne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tech-n9ne/) > [Would you like to do something good for the future of the human race; well, start killing some of its powerful members.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-brown/would-you-like-to-do-something-good-for-the-future-of-the-human-race/) [William C. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-brown/) > [In hard times of severe crisis if you want to create new jobs, I recommend you to start killing some people. It's the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-brown/in-hard-times-of-severe-crisis-if-you-want-to-create-new-jobs-i/) [William C. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-brown/) > [I want your opinion on the best way to proceed. (Eli) I’d start by killing your son and his crew of idiots before their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/i-want-your-opinion-on-the-best-way-to-proceed-eli-i-d-start-by/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Look now — in all of history men have been taught that killing of men is an evil thing not to be countenanced. Any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/look-now-in-all-of-history-men-have-been-taught-that-killing-of-men/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“During the summers they traveled widely through the forests, killing men for booty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-l-byock/during-the-summers-they-traveled-widely-through-the-forests-killing/) Jesse L. Byock > [“But what is the core of the political? Men killing men on the largest scale in broad daylight and with the greatest serenity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-strauss/but-what-is-the-core-of-the-political-men-killing-men-on-the-largest/) [Leo Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-strauss/) > [“If the voices in your head talk to you, no one cares until they tell you to start killing people. Then you’re crazy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-armstrong/if-the-voices-in-your-head-talk-to-you-no-one-cares-until-they-tell/) [Linda Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-armstrong/) > [“Were it up to me, I would be with Lilly. Were it up to me I would be asleep in her arms. She's dead,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/were-it-up-to-me-i-would-be-with-lilly-were-it-up-to-me-i-would-be/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [“I'm an angel of death. I don't need night school, woman. You should just give up on this detective shit and start killing people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/i-m-an-angel-of-death-i-don-t-need-night-school-woman-you-should-just/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [“But you can't just leave it at that!" said Anathema, pushing forward. "Think of all things you could do! Good things." "Like what?" said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/but-you-can-t-just-leave-it-at-that-said-anathema-pushing-forward/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“He’d hate to start killing people at this stage in the game. Especially some poor schmuck who happened to marry the wrong woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelly-laurenston/he-d-hate-to-start-killing-people-at-this-stage-in-the-game/) [Shelly Laurenston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelly-laurenston/) > [“So you went to the doctor. What did he say? - He said I have to start killing people like my boss and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-shaw/so-you-went-to-the-doctor-what-did-he-say-he-said-i-have-to-start/) [Donald Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-shaw/) > [“Winny didn't know what he would do without his books, except probably go berserk and start killing people and making ashtrays out of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/winny-didn-t-know-what-he-would-do-without-his-books-except-probably/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) ## More by Mark Mills > [“He dusted off the shoulder tab and stared at it, so light in his hand, so inconsequential. It was hard to believe that a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/he-dusted-off-the-shoulder-tab-and-stared-at-it-so-light-in-his-hand/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) > [“It's not good...Reading and eating at the same time. The stomach needs blood for digestion. When you read, the brain steals the blood. -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/it-s-not-good-reading-and-eating-at-the-same-time-the-stomach-needs/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) > [“After a few minutes there was a click on the line and a voice said in Farsi,"Goh Benares roo gahbret." This roughly translated as:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/after-a-few-minutes-there-was-a-click-on-the-line-and-a-voice-said-in/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) > [“Adam searched out old friends from the neighborhood. They drank beer together in the garden of the Stag & Hounds, trading stories and trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/adam-searched-out-old-friends-from-the-neighborhood-they-drank-beer/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) > [“Things can make sense at the time, but as you get older those consolations no longer help you sleep. It's the only thing I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/things-can-make-sense-at-the-time-but-as-you-get-older-those/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) > [Give 100 percent to everything you do and never give up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/give-100-percent-to-everything-you-do-and-never-give-up/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) > [“Beware the man who tells you he knows what’s best for you; he usually starts by stealing your rights.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/beware-the-man-who-tells-you-he-knows-what-s-best-for-you-he-usually/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) > [Don't listen to the politicians, always look at the artists, they're the first to tell us where we're going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/don-t-listen-to-the-politicians-always-look-at-the-artists-they-re/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) > [“These sculptors consituteted a new movement, he claimed. Not for them the bald abstraction of their predecessors. Their creations were rooted in a postwar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/these-sculptors-consituteted-a-new-movement-he-claimed-not-for-them/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) > [It's the job of old people to disapprove of everything young people do. . .If we don't disapprove, then the young have nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/it-s-the-job-of-old-people-to-disapprove-of-everything-young-people/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) > [“The rest of dinner was an ordeal. When Adam looked at Signora Docci, he saw Professor Leonard; when he looked at Antonella, he saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/the-rest-of-dinner-was-an-ordeal-when-adam-looked-at-signora-docci-he/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) > [“Men are as men are. Why should they change?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/men-are-as-men-are-why-should-they-change/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) > [“I feel," he replied, "like a sweaty Englishman molesting a naked statue in the presence of a complete stranger." - Adam”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/i-feel-he-replied-like-a-sweaty-englishman-molesting-a-naked-statue/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) > [“What is a unicorn without his horn?" (Antonella) "A white horse?" (Adam) Antonella smiled. "A very unhappy white horse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/what-is-a-unicorn-without-his-horn-antonella-a-white-horse-adam/) [Mark Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) [Explore all 15 Mark Mills quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/) ## More Devil quotes > [“The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose, Sergeant,’ Anthony Payne replied. ‘That is from The Merchant of Venice, but it holds great truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-arnold/the-devil-can-cite-scripture-for-his-purpose-sergeant-anthony-payne/) Michael Arnold > [Alimony - the ransom that the happy pay to the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/alimony-the-ransom-that-the-happy-pay-to-the-devil/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“Beauty is not only a terrible thing, it is also a mysterious thing. There God and the Devil strive for mastery, and the battleground…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/beauty-is-not-only-a-terrible-thing-it-is-also-a-mysterious-thing/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [The devil has been defeated, stop trying to defeat him. What we have left is the fight of faith, and it's a good fight!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-oyakhilome/the-devil-has-been-defeated-stop-trying-to-defeat-him-what-we-have/) [Chris Oyakhilome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-oyakhilome/) > [You gonna take the case?" It's not a case. It's a missing person. Sort of." You're gonna have a devil of a time finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/you-gonna-take-the-case-it-s-not-a-case-it-s-a-missing-person-sort-of/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [Your head's like mine, like all our heads; big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. Big enough to hold the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/your-head-s-like-mine-like-all-our-heads-big-enough-to-contain-every/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [And so it is, that both the Devil and the angelic Spirit present us with objects of desire to awaken our power of choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/and-so-it-is-that-both-the-devil-and-the-angelic-spirit-present-us/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Remember that Abraham Lincoln was a Whig far longer than he was a Republican. As a whole, the Whigs looked upon banks and corporations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-c-guelzo/remember-that-abraham-lincoln-was-a-whig-far-longer-than-he-was-a/) [Allen C. Guelzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-c-guelzo/) > [Wine is the first weapon that devils use in attacking the young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-jerome/wine-is-the-first-weapon-that-devils-use-in-attacking-the-young/) [St. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-jerome/) > [“I tend to agree with that little devil more and more these days.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-casey/i-tend-to-agree-with-that-little-devil-more-and-more-these-days/) [Elle Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-casey/) > [This is the gift of your species and this is the danger, because you do not choose to control your imaginings. You imagine wonderful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-crichton/this-is-the-gift-of-your-species-and-this-is-the-danger-because-you/) [Michael Crichton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-crichton/) > [“The devil?” Jason heaved the tick over his shoulder like a collier with his sack. “Satan. The adversary. The enemy of the plan of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/the-devil-jason-heaved-the-tick-over-his-shoulder-like-a-collier-with/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [God never talks. But the devil keeps advertising, Father. The devil does a lot of commercials.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/god-never-talks-but-the-devil-keeps-advertising-father-the-devil-does/) [William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/) > [If it was a sin for you to choose me . . . then I would go to the Devil himself and bless him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/if-it-was-a-sin-for-you-to-choose-me-then-i-would-go-to-the-devil/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”—Charles Baudelaire “The second greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-greatest-trick-the-devil-ever-pulled-was-convincing-the-world-he/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) [Browse all 4,283 Devil quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devil/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When they start killing the men of ideas, you can be sure the Devil is laughing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Mills" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/when-they-start-killing-the-men-of-ideas-you-can-be-sure-the-devil-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Devil" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/when-they-start-killing-the-men-of-ideas-you-can-be-sure-the-devil-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/mark-mills-32973_devil_when-they-start-killing-the-men-of-ideas_758815.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/mark-mills-32973_devil_when-they-start-killing-the-men-of-ideas_758815.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/mark-mills-32973_devil_when-they-start-killing-the-men-of-ideas_758815.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When they start killing the men of ideas, you can be sure the Devil is laughing.” — Mark Mills", "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": "Mark Mills", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mills/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When they start killing the men...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/when-they-start-killing-the-men-of-ideas-you-can-be-sure-the-devil-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mills/when-they-start-killing-the-men-of-ideas-you-can-be-sure-the-devil-is/#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 } } ] } ```