--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Anti-intellectualism ... has been present…" description: "\"Anti-intellectualism ... has been present in some form and degree in most societies; in one it takes the form of the administering of hemlock, in anoth..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/richard-hofstadter-12288_censorship_anti-intellectualism-has-been-present-in_2673007.jpg" --- # Anti-intellectualism ... has been present in some form and… ![“Anti-intellectualism ... has been present in some form and degree in most societies; in one it takes the form of the administering of hemlock, in another of town-and-gown riots, in another of censorship and regimentation, in still another of Congressional investigations.” quote by Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/richard-hofstadter-12288_censorship_anti-intellectualism-has-been-present-in_2673007.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/richard-hofstadter-12288_censorship_anti-intellectualism-has-been-present-in_2673007.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/richard-hofstadter-12288_censorship_anti-intellectualism-has-been-present-in_2673007.jpg) > “Anti-intellectualism ... has been present in some form and degree in most societies; in one it takes the form of the administering of hemlock, in another of town-and-gown riots, in another of censorship and regimentation, in still another of Congressional investigations.” [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societies repeatedly confront anti‑intellectualism in varied forms, from punitive actions to censorship, reflecting persistent distrust of expertise. **In simple terms:** Anti‑intellectualism appears in many ways across societies. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge intellectual suppression. Themes censorship political control intellectual freedom social conflict Mood critical historical Type analytical educational When to use this quote - policy analysis - education reform - public discourse Key Concepts authoritarianism media influence historical patterns Questions to Reflect On - Why does anti‑intellectualism resurface? - What can protect intellectual freedom? A Different Perspective May simplify complex historical causes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anti Intellectualism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anti-intellectualism-269226/) [Censorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censorship/) [Degrees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degrees/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Gown Riots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gown-riots-2518983/) [Gowns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gowns/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Hemlock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hemlock/) [Intellectualism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectualism/) [Intellectualism Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectualism-present-2518981/) [Investigation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investigation/) [Regimentation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regimentation/) [Riot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/riot/) [Riots Censorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/riots-censorship-2518982/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Towns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/towns/) ## Related quotes > [There are forces working in the world as never before in the history of mankind for standardization, for the regimentation of us all, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/there-are-forces-working-in-the-world-as-never-before-in-the-history/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [Isn't the whole idea behind the massive regulation and regimentation of American industry and society the notion that individuals should be forced to behave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dilorenzo/isn-t-the-whole-idea-behind-the-massive-regulation-and-regimentation/) [Thomas DiLorenzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dilorenzo/) > [If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bernays/if-we-understand-the-mechanism-and-motives-of-the-group-mind-it-is/) [Edward Bernays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bernays/) > [Insistence on having a sexual orientation in sex is about defending the status quo, maintaining sex differences and the sexual hierarchy; whereas resistance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stoltenberg/insistence-on-having-a-sexual-orientation-in-sex-is-about-defending/) [John Stoltenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stoltenberg/) > [ I'd been reading Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year when the \[1992 Los Angeles\] riots broke out and I began to see them… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wallace/i-d-been-reading-daniel-defoe-s-journal-of-the-plague-year-when-the/) [Naomi Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wallace/) > [I am an observer of life, a non-participant who takes no sides. 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We Americans have so far escaped regimentation by our rulers, but have we escaped regimentation by our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/ideas-like-men-can-become-dictators-we-americans-have-so-far-escaped/) [Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/) > [Machines have no political opinions, but they have profound political effects. They demand a strict regimentation of time, and, by abolishing the need for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/machines-have-no-political-opinions-but-they-have-profound-political/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [They (who) seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/they-who-seek-to-establish-systems-of-government-based-on-the/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [Middle-class kids get to play, develop their thinking ability. Poor kids are much more likely to get regimentation under the guise of socialization. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pedro-noguera/middle-class-kids-get-to-play-develop-their-thinking-ability-poor/) [Pedro Noguera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pedro-noguera/) > [“It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/it-is-in-fact-nothing-short-of-a-miracle-that-the-modern-methods-of/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“All winter long, I had glimpsed his deeply set habits, his regimented schedule. When I left, he would eat a dinner of leftovers, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ling-ma/all-winter-long-i-had-glimpsed-his-deeply-set-habits-his-regimented/) [Ling Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ling-ma/) > [We are in the grip of a scientific materialism, caught in a vicious cycle where our security today seems to depend on regimentation and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/we-are-in-the-grip-of-a-scientific-materialism-caught-in-a-vicious/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) ## More by Richard Hofstadter > [Anti-Catholicism has always been the pornography of the Puritan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/anti-catholicism-has-always-been-the-pornography-of-the-puritan/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [“purity of a sort is easily had where responsibilities are not assumed. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/purity-of-a-sort-is-easily-had-where-responsibilities-are-not-assumed/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [It is a part of the intellectual's tragedy that the things he most values about himself and his work are quite unlike those society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/it-is-a-part-of-the-intellectual-s-tragedy-that-the-things-he-most/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [It has been our fate as a nation not to have ideologies but to be one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/it-has-been-our-fate-as-a-nation-not-to-have-ideologies-but-to-be-one/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [“The truly creative mind is hardly ever so much alone as when it is trying to be sociable. 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Prolonged illness also carries the hazard of narcissistic self-absorption.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/to-be-sick-and-helpless-is-a-humiliating-experience-prolonged-illness/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [There has always been in our national experience a type of mind which elevates hatred to a kind of creed; for this mind, group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/there-has-always-been-in-our-national-experience-a-type-of-mind-which/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [The intellectual's ... playfulness, in its various manifestations, is likely to seem to most men a perverse luxury; in the United States the play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/the-intellectual-s-playfulness-in-its-various-manifestations-is/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [“...the danger that American society as a whole will over-esteem intellect or assign it such a transcendent value as to displace other legitimate values…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/the-danger-that-american-society-as-a-whole-will-over-esteem/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [To be confronted with a simple and unqualified evil is no doubt a kind of luxury…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/to-be-confronted-with-a-simple-and-unqualified-evil-is-no-doubt-a/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [“When one considers American history as a whole, it is hard to think of any very long period in which it could be said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/when-one-considers-american-history-as-a-whole-it-is-hard-to-think-of/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [If there is anything more dangerous to the life of the mind than having no independent commitment to ideas, it is having an excess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/if-there-is-anything-more-dangerous-to-the-life-of-the-mind-than/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Explore all 55 Richard Hofstadter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) ## More Censorship quotes > [“Medical studies have shown that cursing reduces levels of stress and pain. Repressing your anger is not healthy. It's much better to verbalize it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/medical-studies-have-shown-that-cursing-reduces-levels-of-stress-and/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [“Censors don’t want children exposed to ideas different from their own. If every individual with an agenda had his/her way, the shelves in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-blume/censors-don-t-want-children-exposed-to-ideas-different-from-their-own/) [Judy Blume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-blume/) > [Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/censorship-is-the-child-of-fear-and-the-father-of-ignorance/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [I don't believe in censorship in any form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-bigelow/i-don-t-believe-in-censorship-in-any-form/) [Kathryn Bigelow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-bigelow/) > [We must be talented, powerful and resilient creatures indeed given how much we manage to produce despite the constant undercutting, ridicule and needless censorship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth/we-must-be-talented-powerful-and-resilient-creatures-indeed-given-how/) [Seth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth/) > [When a critic sets himself up as an arbiter of morality, a judge of the matter and not the manner of a work, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/when-a-critic-sets-himself-up-as-an-arbiter-of-morality-a-judge-of/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [When there is official censorship it is a sign that speech is serious. Where there is none, it is pretty certain that the official…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/when-there-is-official-censorship-it-is-a-sign-that-speech-is-serious/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [“I agree that it's a shame some books have to suffer ratings that clearly are invalid. However I can't think of a way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otis-y-chandler/i-agree-that-it-s-a-shame-some-books-have-to-suffer-ratings-that/) [Otis Y. Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otis-y-chandler/) > [I think that, honestly, people's censorship issues are personal but I disagree with most of those personal choices that I see others make. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-rogen/i-think-that-honestly-people-s-censorship-issues-are-personal-but-i/) [Seth Rogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-rogen/) > [Art made tongue-tied by authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/art-made-tongue-tied-by-authority/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“The tendency to want what has been banned and therefore to presume that it is more worthwhile is not limited to such commodities as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-cialdini/the-tendency-to-want-what-has-been-banned-and-therefore-to-presume/) [Robert B. Cialdini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-cialdini/) > [The only thing that is obscene is censorship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-thing-that-is-obscene-is-censorship/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In a feature film, the question of censorship always comes up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javed-jaffrey/in-a-feature-film-the-question-of-censorship-always-comes-up/) [Javed Jaffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javed-jaffrey/) > [“Don't join the book burners. Don't think you're going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don't be afraid to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/don-t-join-the-book-burners-don-t-think-you-re-going-to-conceal/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [ If no one speaks out for \[young readers\], if they don’t speak out for themselves, all they’ll get for required reading will be the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-blume/if-no-one-speaks-out-for-young-readers-if-they-don-t-speak-out-for/) [Judy Blume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-blume/) [Browse all 884 Censorship quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censorship/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Anti-intellectualism ... has been present in some form and degree in most societies; in one it takes the form of the administering of hemlock, in another of town-and-gown riots, in another of censorship and regimentation, in still another of Congressional investigations.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Hofstadter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/anti-intellectualism-has-been-present-in-some-form-and-degree-in-most/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Censorship" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/anti-intellectualism-has-been-present-in-some-form-and-degree-in-most/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/richard-hofstadter-12288_censorship_anti-intellectualism-has-been-present-in_2673007.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/richard-hofstadter-12288_censorship_anti-intellectualism-has-been-present-in_2673007.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/richard-hofstadter-12288_censorship_anti-intellectualism-has-been-present-in_2673007.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Anti-intellectualism ... has been present in some form and degree in most societies; in one it takes the…” — Richard Hofstadter", "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": "Richard Hofstadter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Anti-intellectualism ... has been present in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/anti-intellectualism-has-been-present-in-some-form-and-degree-in-most/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/anti-intellectualism-has-been-present-in-some-form-and-degree-in-most/#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 } } ] } ```