--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One must be stark mad, to believe that…" description: "\"One must be stark mad, to believe that mankind can subsist without magistrates.\" — Pierre Bayle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15f/pierre-bayle-22563_atheism_one-must-be-stark-mad-to-believe-that-ma_1912537.jpg" --- # One must be stark mad, to believe that mankind can subsist… ![“One must be stark mad, to believe that mankind can subsist without magistrates.” quote by Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15f/pierre-bayle-22563_atheism_one-must-be-stark-mad-to-believe-that-ma_1912537.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15f/pierre-bayle-22563_atheism_one-must-be-stark-mad-to-believe-that-ma_1912537.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15f/pierre-bayle-22563_atheism_one-must-be-stark-mad-to-believe-that-ma_1912537.jpg) > “One must be stark mad, to believe that mankind can subsist without magistrates.” [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society needs law and order to function; chaos is dangerous. **In simple terms:** Governance is essential for stability. Key Takeaway Support institutions that uphold justice. Themes politics order law anarchy Mood analytical debating Type philosophical political When to use this quote - government - community - business - online platforms Key Concepts social contract philosophy of law Questions to Reflect On - Is anarchy truly viable? - What balance of freedom and control is ideal? A Different Perspective Some argue liberty can exist without strict authority. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Positive atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-atheism/) ## Related quotes > [Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a worm, and yet he will be making gods by dozens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/man-is-certainly-stark-mad-he-cannot-make-a-worm-and-yet-he-will-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Don't the overwhelming majority believe that mankind is the crowning achievement of Creation, that man is better than everything, even things we haven't yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adalbert-stifter/don-t-the-overwhelming-majority-believe-that-mankind-is-the-crowning/) [Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) > [I believe in God--in spite of God! I believe in Mankind--in spite of Mankind! I believe in the Future--in spite of the Past!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-believe-in-god-in-spite-of-god-i-believe-in-mankind-in-spite-of/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [“I can believe that things are true and I can believe things that aren’t true and I can believe things where nobody knows if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-can-believe-that-things-are-true-and-i-can-believe-things-that-aren/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Being in an area of the planet where scientists believe mankind started is quite amazing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-de-bont/being-in-an-area-of-the-planet-where-scientists-believe-mankind/) [Jan de Bont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-de-bont/) > [I believe that mankind's destiny lies in the stars...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-believe-that-mankind-s-destiny-lies-in-the-stars/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“I believe that mankind's destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-believe-that-mankind-s-destiny-lies-in-the-stars-i-believe-that/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I believe in man. I believe in mankind, as the worst and the best that has happened to this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-del-toro/i-believe-in-man-i-believe-in-mankind-as-the-worst-and-the-best-that/) [Guillermo del Toro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-del-toro/) > [We actually all care about the environment, and most people believe in climate change and believe that mankind has something to do with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-crenshaw/we-actually-all-care-about-the-environment-and-most-people-believe-in/) [Dan Crenshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-crenshaw/) > ['Never again' is the rallying cry for all who believe that mankind must speak out against genocide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-corzine/never-again-is-the-rallying-cry-for-all-who-believe-that-mankind-must/) [Jon Corzine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-corzine/) > [It's obvious nonsense, but it makes nice people feel good about themselves to do their bit for the planet. It's vanity of a grotesque…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-saatchi/it-s-obvious-nonsense-but-it-makes-nice-people-feel-good-about/) [Charles Saatchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-saatchi/) > [None of the modes by which a magistrate is appointed, popular election, the accident of the lot, or the accident of birth, affords, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/none-of-the-modes-by-which-a-magistrate-is-appointed-popular-election/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Religion in a magistrate strengthens his authority, because it procures veneration, and gains a reputation to it. In all the affairs of this world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tillotson/religion-in-a-magistrate-strengthens-his-authority-because-it/) [John Tillotson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tillotson/) > [Since custom is the principal magistrate of man's life, let men by all means endeavor to obtain good customs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/since-custom-is-the-principal-magistrate-of-man-s-life-let-men-by-all/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [If the civil magistrate be a Christian, a disciple or follower of the meek Lamb of God, he is bound to be far from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-williams/if-the-civil-magistrate-be-a-christian-a-disciple-or-follower-of-the/) [Roger Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-williams/) ## More by Pierre Bayle > [I am a good Protestant, and in the full sense of the term, for from the bottom of my soul, I protest against everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/i-am-a-good-protestant-and-in-the-full-sense-of-the-term-for-from-the/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [It is only common prejudice that induces us to believe that atheism is a fearful state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/it-is-only-common-prejudice-that-induces-us-to-believe-that-atheism/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [So that, were it the purpose of God to produce comets as signs of his wrath it would be true to say that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/so-that-were-it-the-purpose-of-god-to-produce-comets-as-signs-of-his/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [Consider, I pray, whether you are not renouncing all shame and sincerity to advance such principles. Because a comet appears in a group of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/consider-i-pray-whether-you-are-not-renouncing-all-shame-and/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [Compulsion in the literal Sense is maliciously misrepresented, by supposing it authorizes Violences committed against the Truth. The Answer to this; by which it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/compulsion-in-the-literal-sense-is-maliciously-misrepresented-by/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [Do you doubt that the least effects of nature were not used as marks of the wrath of heaven? It was to the interest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/do-you-doubt-that-the-least-effects-of-nature-were-not-used-as-marks/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [I lay down the Position, That whatever a Conscience well directed allows us to do for the Advancement of Truth, an erroneous Conscience will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/i-lay-down-the-position-that-whatever-a-conscience-well-directed/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [There was no other God, religion, or lawful magistracy, than conscience, which teaches all men the precepts of Justice, to do no injury, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/there-was-no-other-god-religion-or-lawful-magistracy-than-conscience/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [I get up and retire when I wish. I go out if I wish and I do not go out if I do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/i-get-up-and-retire-when-i-wish-i-go-out-if-i-wish-and-i-do-not-go/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [The antiquity and general acceptance of an opinion is not assurance of its truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/the-antiquity-and-general-acceptance-of-an-opinion-is-not-assurance/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [“In the matters of religion, it is very hard to deceive a man, and very hard to undeceive him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/in-the-matters-of-religion-it-is-very-hard-to-deceive-a-man-and-very/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [There is not less wit nor invention in applying rightly a thought one finds in a book, than in being the first author of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/there-is-not-less-wit-nor-invention-in-applying-rightly-a-thought-one/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [The furnace of affliction refines us from earthly drossiness, and softens us for the impression of God's own stamp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/the-furnace-of-affliction-refines-us-from-earthly-drossiness-and/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [I know too much to be a sceptic and too little to be a dogmatist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/i-know-too-much-to-be-a-sceptic-and-too-little-to-be-a-dogmatist/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [The movement of comets is part of the ordinary works of nature which, without regard to the happiness or misery of mankind, are transported…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/the-movement-of-comets-is-part-of-the-ordinary-works-of-nature-which/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) [Explore all 27 Pierre Bayle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) ## More Atheism quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/no-philosophy-no-religion-has-ever-brought-so-glad-a-message-to-the/) [Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [God speaks through me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/god-speaks-through-me/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Do you think that was kind? Do you think it was godlike? What would you think of a physician, if a woman came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-h-gardener/do-you-think-that-was-kind-do-you-think-it-was-godlike-what-would-you/) [Helen H. Gardener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-h-gardener/) > [Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/science-can-destroy-religion-by-ignoring-it-as-well-as-by-disproving/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [Honest investigation is utterly impossible within the pale of any church, for the reason, that if you think the church is right you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/honest-investigation-is-utterly-impossible-within-the-pale-of-any/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) [Browse all 4,769 Atheism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One must be stark mad, to believe that mankind can subsist without magistrates.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pierre Bayle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/one-must-be-stark-mad-to-believe-that-mankind-can-subsist-without/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Atheism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/one-must-be-stark-mad-to-believe-that-mankind-can-subsist-without/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15f/pierre-bayle-22563_atheism_one-must-be-stark-mad-to-believe-that-ma_1912537.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15f/pierre-bayle-22563_atheism_one-must-be-stark-mad-to-believe-that-ma_1912537.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15f/pierre-bayle-22563_atheism_one-must-be-stark-mad-to-believe-that-ma_1912537.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One must be stark mad, to believe that mankind can subsist without magistrates.” — Pierre Bayle", "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": "Pierre Bayle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One must be stark mad, to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/one-must-be-stark-mad-to-believe-that-mankind-can-subsist-without/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/one-must-be-stark-mad-to-believe-that-mankind-can-subsist-without/#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 } } ] } ```