--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Like all fundamentalists who get their…" description: "\"“Like all fundamentalists who get their clammy hands on the levers of power, the market fanatics are going to kill off every humane, life-enhancing, ge..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/philip-pullman-525_fundamentalism_like-all-fundamentalists-who-get-their-c_595399.png" --- # Like all fundamentalists who get their clammy hands on the… ![“Like all fundamentalists who get their clammy hands on the levers of power, the market fanatics are going to kill off every humane, life-enhancing, generous, imaginative and decent corner of our public life… Market fundamentalism, this madness that's infected the human race, is like a greedy ghost…” quote by Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/philip-pullman-525_fundamentalism_like-all-fundamentalists-who-get-their-c_595399.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/philip-pullman-525_fundamentalism_like-all-fundamentalists-who-get-their-c_595399.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/philip-pullman-525_fundamentalism_like-all-fundamentalists-who-get-their-c_595399.png) > ““Like all fundamentalists who get their clammy hands on the levers of power, the market fanatics are going to kill off every humane, life-enhancing, generous, imaginative and decent corner of our public life… Market fundamentalism, this madness that's infected the human race, is like a greedy ghost that haunts the boardrooms and council chambers and committee rooms from which the world is run these days. The greedy ghost understands profit all right. But that's all. What he doesn't understand is enterprises that don't make a profit, because they're set up to do something different. He doesn't understand libraries at all…”” [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Market-driven greed ignores non‑profit values, threatening cultural and humanitarian institutions. **In simple terms:** Profit focus harms public good. Key Takeaway Support non‑profit missions. Themes economics ethics culture Mood critical concerned Type political philosophical When to use this quote - library funding - non‑profit advocacy - policy reform Key Concepts market fundamentalism public good Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance profit and purpose? - What policies protect non‑profit work? A Different Perspective Profit motives can also fund positive change if redirected. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fundamentalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamentalism/) [Fundamentalism Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamentalism-madness-4864350/) [Fundamentalists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamentalists/) [Human race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-race/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Like Fundamentalists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-fundamentalists-3637149/) [Market Fundamentalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/market-fundamentalism-3282898/) [Public life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-life/) ## Related quotes > [ “Many \[Tudor-era religious radicals\] believed then, exactly as Christian fundamentalists do today, that they lived in the 'last days' before Armageddon and, again just… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-sansom/many-tudor-era-religious-radicals-believed-then-exactly-as-christian/) [C.J. Sansom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-sansom/) > [Just as any revolution eats its children, unchecked market fundamentalism can devour the social capital essential for the long-term dynamism of capitalism itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-carney/just-as-any-revolution-eats-its-children-unchecked-market/) [Mark Carney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-carney/) > [I don't use my money to gain political influence for my private interests, which is what many rich people do, and what, in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/i-don-t-use-my-money-to-gain-political-influence-for-my-private/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [“Very little, however, has been written about how market fundamentalism has, from the very first moments, systematically sabotaged our collective response to climate change,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/very-little-however-has-been-written-about-how-market-fundamentalism/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [Margaret Thatcher in Britain and soon after Ronald Reagan in the United States - both hard-line advocates of market fundamentalism - announced that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/margaret-thatcher-in-britain-and-soon-after-ronald-reagan-in-the/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [I am against market fundamentalism. I think this propaganda that government involvement is always bad has been very successful - but also very harmful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/i-am-against-market-fundamentalism-i-think-this-propaganda-that/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [“There is a basic terrorist germ in fundamentalism – a germ that is purely genocidal. This germ drives the psyche of mentally unstable individuals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/there-is-a-basic-terrorist-germ-in-fundamentalism-a-germ-that-is/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“Discriminations suit animals, not humans. And yet, the unfortunate reality is, it is the humans that discriminate each other on the grounds of imaginary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/discriminations-suit-animals-not-humans-and-yet-the-unfortunate/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Some believers are fundamentalists about everything, but every believer is a fundamentalist about something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-a-coyne/some-believers-are-fundamentalists-about-everything-but-every/) [Jerry A. Coyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-a-coyne/) > [“Christians today who view the Bible as God's unadulterated and inerrant word are rightly labeled fundamentalists, while Muslims who think the same of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamed-abdel-samad/christians-today-who-view-the-bible-as-god-s-unadulterated-and/) [Hamed Abdel-Samad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamed-abdel-samad/) > [ The common people don't believe this kind of religion \[of islamic fundamentalists\] because first and foremost they want to solve their basic problems, including… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdul-sattar-edhi/the-common-people-don-t-believe-this-kind-of-religion-of-islamic/) [Abdul Sattar Edhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdul-sattar-edhi/) > [But it is no good using the tongs of reason to pull the Fundamentalists' chestnuts out of the fire of contradiction. Their real troubles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrett-hardin/but-it-is-no-good-using-the-tongs-of-reason-to-pull-the/) [Garrett Hardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrett-hardin/) > [Fundamentalists believe that we don't believe in anything. In their view of the world, they are in possession of absolute certainties, while we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/fundamentalists-believe-that-we-don-t-believe-in-anything-in-their/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Fundamentalists are panicked by the apparent disintegration of the family, the disappearance of certainty and the decay of morality. Fear leads them to ask,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrett-hardin/fundamentalists-are-panicked-by-the-apparent-disintegration-of-the/) [Garrett Hardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrett-hardin/) > [Christianity isn't the only group that has fundamentalists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-campolo/christianity-isn-t-the-only-group-that-has-fundamentalists/) [Tony Campolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-campolo/) ## More by Philip Pullman > [The state of mind which I put myself when I tell a story is one in which superstition flourishes very easily. And I welcome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-state-of-mind-which-i-put-myself-when-i-tell-a-story-is-one-in/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Religion grants its adherents malign, intoxicating and morally corrosive sensations. Destroying intellectual freedom is always evil, but only religion makes doing evil feel quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/religion-grants-its-adherents-malign-intoxicating-and-morally/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [We don't need lists of rights and wrongs, tables of do's and don'ts: we need books, time, and silence. Thou shalt not is soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/we-don-t-need-lists-of-rights-and-wrongs-tables-of-do-s-and-don-ts-we/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/i-have-stolen-ideas-from-every-book-i-have-ever-read/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [All the stories of the Bible that I know came to me first from my grandfather's lips... He would see stories in everything. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/all-the-stories-of-the-bible-that-i-know-came-to-me-first-from-my/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [What I do say is that I can write verse, and that the writing of verse in strict form is the best possible training…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/what-i-do-say-is-that-i-can-write-verse-and-that-the-writing-of-verse/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Writing is tyranny ... but reading is democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/writing-is-tyranny-but-reading-is-democracy/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“Middlemarch is a novel that is diminished by being put on the screen. It can't help but be, because so much of what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/middlemarch-is-a-novel-that-is-diminished-by-being-put-on-the-screen/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [I have maintained a passionate interest in education, which leads me occasionally to make foolish and ill-considered remarks alleging that not everything is well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/i-have-maintained-a-passionate-interest-in-education-which-leads-me/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [And think what worrying does: has anyone ever added a single hour to the length of his life by worrying about it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/and-think-what-worrying-does-has-anyone-ever-added-a-single-hour-to/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“The question authors get asked more than any other is "Where do you get your ideas from?" And we all find a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-question-authors-get-asked-more-than-any-other-is-where-do-you/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“We are all subject to the fates. But we must all act as if we are not,” said the witch, “or die of despair.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/we-are-all-subject-to-the-fates-but-we-must-all-act-as-if-we-are-not/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Lonely? I don't know. They tell me this is cold. I don't know what cold is, because I don't freeze. So I don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/lonely-i-don-t-know-they-tell-me-this-is-cold-i-don-t-know-what-cold/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Just finished 'Secrecy' - truly enthralling both as a love story and as a tale of suspense - but much more than both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/just-finished-secrecy-truly-enthralling-both-as-a-love-story-and-as-a/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“As Auden is believed to have said, no poem saved a single Jew from the gas chambers. Never mind. Write the poems anyway. Play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/as-auden-is-believed-to-have-said-no-poem-saved-a-single-jew-from-the/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) [Explore all 479 Philip Pullman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## More Fundamentalism quotes > [I am a woman, and as such, I experience the ever-increasing restrictions on our liberty in our country through the development of Islamic fundamentalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/i-am-a-woman-and-as-such-i-experience-the-ever-increasing/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [“Despite the fact that, the idea of religion has been filled by the human society with all sorts of garbage, and thus been made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/despite-the-fact-that-the-idea-of-religion-has-been-filled-by-the/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Christianity isn't the only group that has fundamentalists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-campolo/christianity-isn-t-the-only-group-that-has-fundamentalists/) [Tony Campolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-campolo/) > [Islamic fundamentalism is attacking us at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/islamic-fundamentalism-is-attacking-us-at-home/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [We have to review our foreign policy and stop rolling out the red carpet for countries we know to be funding fundamentalism: countries like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/we-have-to-review-our-foreign-policy-and-stop-rolling-out-the-red/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [Critics of the war plans (including myself) have pointed to the disastrous political results that must be expected: Iraq would break into three parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uri-avnery/critics-of-the-war-plans-including-myself-have-pointed-to-the/) [Uri Avnery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uri-avnery/) > [“When a person irrationally and quite pathologically sticks to the creeds of his scriptures too much, it can turn even a great human being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/when-a-person-irrationally-and-quite-pathologically-sticks-to-the/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Fundamentalists are panicked by the apparent disintegration of the family, the disappearance of certainty and the decay of morality. Fear leads them to ask,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrett-hardin/fundamentalists-are-panicked-by-the-apparent-disintegration-of-the/) [Garrett Hardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrett-hardin/) > [Fundamentalists believe that we don't believe in anything. In their view of the world, they are in possession of absolute certainties, while we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/fundamentalists-believe-that-we-don-t-believe-in-anything-in-their/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [In turbulent times, in times of great change, people head for the two extremes: fundamentalism and personal, spiritual experience...With no membership lists or even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-naisbitt/in-turbulent-times-in-times-of-great-change-people-head-for-the-two/) [John Naisbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-naisbitt/) > [“Pilgrim's Regress (Sonnet 2324) Mirage mistaken as message, when ethnic cleansing feels enlightened, Sinai becomes septic, Bethlehem becomes Bedlam. Dogma decreed as divine, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/pilgrim-s-regress-sonnet-2324-mirage-mistaken-as-message-when-ethnic/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [I don't think that fundamentalism has anything to do with Jesus Christ. They call themselves Christians, but if that's Christian, count me out. Fundamentalism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-fox/i-don-t-think-that-fundamentalism-has-anything-to-do-with-jesus/) [Matthew Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-fox/) > [But it is no good using the tongs of reason to pull the Fundamentalists' chestnuts out of the fire of contradiction. Their real troubles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrett-hardin/but-it-is-no-good-using-the-tongs-of-reason-to-pull-the/) [Garrett Hardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrett-hardin/) > [I think in times of fear and hysteria in a culture, gender experimentation as it pertains to men has to go underground because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupaul/i-think-in-times-of-fear-and-hysteria-in-a-culture-gender/) [RuPaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupaul/) > [I have no religious belief myself, but I don't think we should fight about it. In particular, I think that we should not rubbish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/i-have-no-religious-belief-myself-but-i-don-t-think-we-should-fight/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) [Browse all 437 Fundamentalism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamentalism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Like all fundamentalists who get their clammy hands on the levers of power, the market fanatics are going to kill off every humane, life-enhancing, generous, imaginative and decent corner of our public life… Market fundamentalism, this madness that's infected the human race, is like a greedy ghost that haunts the boardrooms and council chambers and committee rooms from which the world is run these days. The greedy ghost understands profit all right. But that's all. What he doesn't understand is enterprises that don't make a profit, because they're set up to do something different. He doesn't understand libraries at all…”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Philip Pullman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/like-all-fundamentalists-who-get-their-clammy-hands-on-the-levers-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fundamentalism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/like-all-fundamentalists-who-get-their-clammy-hands-on-the-levers-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/philip-pullman-525_fundamentalism_like-all-fundamentalists-who-get-their-c_595399.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/philip-pullman-525_fundamentalism_like-all-fundamentalists-who-get-their-c_595399.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/philip-pullman-525_fundamentalism_like-all-fundamentalists-who-get-their-c_595399.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Like all fundamentalists who get their clammy hands on the levers of power, the market fanatics are going to…” — Philip Pullman", "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": "Philip Pullman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Like all fundamentalists who get their...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/like-all-fundamentalists-who-get-their-clammy-hands-on-the-levers-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/like-all-fundamentalists-who-get-their-clammy-hands-on-the-levers-of/#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 } } ] } ```