--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why would anybody be intimidated by mere…" description: "\"Why would anybody be intimidated by mere words? I mean, neither I nor any other athiest that I know ever threatens violence. We never threaten to fly p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bd/richard-dawkins-115_bombs_why-would-anybody-be-intimidated-by-mere_1252501.jpg" --- # Why would anybody be intimidated by mere words? I mean… ![“Why would anybody be intimidated by mere words? I mean, neither I nor any other athiest that I know ever threatens violence. We never threaten to fly planes into skyscrapers. We never threaten suicide bombs. We are very gentle people. All we do is use words to talk about things like the cosmos…” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bd/richard-dawkins-115_bombs_why-would-anybody-be-intimidated-by-mere_1252501.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bd/richard-dawkins-115_bombs_why-would-anybody-be-intimidated-by-mere_1252501.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bd/richard-dawkins-115_bombs_why-would-anybody-be-intimidated-by-mere_1252501.jpg) > “Why would anybody be intimidated by mere words? I mean, neither I nor any other athiest that I know ever threatens violence. We never threaten to fly planes into skyscrapers. We never threaten suicide bombs. We are very gentle people. All we do is use words to talk about things like the cosmos, the origin of the universe, evolution, the origin of life. What's there to be frightened of? It's just an opinion.” [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Words alone cannot cause physical harm; fear of ideas is misplaced, emphasizing the power of dialogue over violence. **In simple terms:** Ideas are harmless without action. Key Takeaway Focus on constructive discourse. Themes speech violence freedom of expression science Mood analytical cautious Type philosophical political When to use this quote - academic debates - public policy - online discussions Key Concepts ethics communication rationalism Questions to Reflect On - How do you respond to threatening rhetoric? - What safeguards protect free speech without inciting violence? A Different Perspective Ideas can inspire harmful actions if misused. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Athiest Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/athiest-know-3952286/) [Bombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bombs/) [Cosmos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmos/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Frightened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frightened/) [Gentle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gentle/) [Intimidated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimidated/) [Intimidated Mere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimidated-mere-3952284/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Mean Athiest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean-athiest-3952285/) [Mere Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mere-words-690528/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Origin of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/origin-of-life/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Planes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planes/) [Skyscraper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skyscraper/) [Suicide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) ## Related quotes > [A guided missile corrects its trajectory as it flies, homing in, say, on the heat of a jet plane's exhaust. A great improvement on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/a-guided-missile-corrects-its-trajectory-as-it-flies-homing-in-say-on/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [One should therefore not rely on mere words, but everywhere search for the intention behind them. (121)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-conze/one-should-therefore-not-rely-on-mere-words-but-everywhere-search-for/) [Edward Conze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-conze/) > [“To speak of "mere words" is much like speaking of "mere dynamite.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-ducasse/to-speak-of-mere-words-is-much-like-speaking-of-mere-dynamite/) [C.J. Ducasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-ducasse/) > [“Mere words cannot defeat a true hero. Unless they happen to be the words to some sort of Instant Death Spell. Magic is scary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-healy/mere-words-cannot-defeat-a-true-hero-unless-they-happen-to-be-the/) [Christopher Healy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-healy/) > [Words! Mere words! How terrible they were! How clear, and vivid, and cruel! One could not escape from them. And yet what a subtle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/words-mere-words-how-terrible-they-were-how-clear-and-vivid-and-cruel-2/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“never to use the expression “mere words.” Words are never “mere.” They are strong and beautiful. Use them carefully, for language is both a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-henry/never-to-use-the-expression-mere-words-words-are-never-mere-they-are/) [Gary Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-henry/) > [“The Word of God is never mere words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-word-of-god-is-never-mere-words/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Hardened round us, encasing wholly every notion we form is a wrapping of traditions, hearsay's, and mere words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/hardened-round-us-encasing-wholly-every-notion-we-form-is-a-wrapping/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [We battle on in words, as always, mere words, and what's the cure? We cannot find a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/we-battle-on-in-words-as-always-mere-words-and-what-s-the-cure-we/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [The corruption of religions comes from turning them to mere words and appearances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-ghazali/the-corruption-of-religions-comes-from-turning-them-to-mere-words-and/) [Al-Ghazali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-ghazali/) > [Mere words will not do. They must convey the color, charm, and pulse of life. They must have a private twinkle of wit in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corra-may-harris/mere-words-will-not-do-they-must-convey-the-color-charm-and-pulse-of/) [Corra May Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corra-may-harris/) > [We have all been hearing from childhood of such things as love, peace, charity, equality, and universal brotherhood; but they have become to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/we-have-all-been-hearing-from-childhood-of-such-things-as-love-peace/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [To express to you in mere words, our personal feelings on this occasion you must know to be impossible, and particularly so for one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melvin-calvin/to-express-to-you-in-mere-words-our-personal-feelings-on-this/) [Melvin Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melvin-calvin/) > [Words! Mere words! How terrible they were! How clear, and vivid, and cruel! One could not escape from them. And yet what a subtle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/words-mere-words-how-terrible-they-were-how-clear-and-vivid-and-cruel/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“The sense they find in the words must be a sense small enough to pass through their narrow doors. And if mere words, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/the-sense-they-find-in-the-words-must-be-a-sense-small-enough-to-pass/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) ## More by Richard Dawkins > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“The fundamentalist Kurt Wise proclaims that all the evidence in the universe would not change his mind. 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And of all its money-making rip-offs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-roman-catholic-church-is-an-institution-for-whose-gains-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/let-us-understand-what-our-own-selfish-genes-are-up-to-because-we-may/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [What's going to happen when I die? I may be buried, or I may be cremated, I may give my body to science. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/what-s-going-to-happen-when-i-die-i-may-be-buried-or-i-may-be/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. 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If in the future that requires violence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-will-not-go-quietly-away-if-in-the-future-that-requires-violence/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-s-a-truly-disgusting-idea-that-the-creator-of-the-universe-capable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Explore all 1,239 Richard Dawkins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More Bombs quotes > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... 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