--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Anyone who has the power to make you…" description: "\"Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.\" — Voltaire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/voltaire-173_absurdities_anyone-who-has-the-power-to-make-you-bel_1596688.png" --- # Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities… ![“Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.” quote by Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/voltaire-173_absurdities_anyone-who-has-the-power-to-make-you-bel_1596688.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/voltaire-173_absurdities_anyone-who-has-the-power-to-make-you-bel_1596688.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/voltaire-173_absurdities_anyone-who-has-the-power-to-make-you-bel_1596688.png) > “Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.” [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Those who convince others of absurd ideas can also compel them to commit injustices. **In simple terms:** Powerful ideas can lead to harmful actions. Key Takeaway Question the power behind ideas. Themes power belief justice Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - political propaganda - religious dogma - media narratives Key Concepts philosophy of influence ethical responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How do you discern truth from absurdity? - What safeguards prevent misuse of belief? A Different Perspective Not all persuasive ideas are harmful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurdities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdities/) [Absurdities Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdities-power-6062248/) [Absurdity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdity/) [Anti war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anti-war/) [Antiwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antiwar/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Believe Absurdities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-absurdities-364351/) [Belive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belive/) [Commit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commit/) [Commit Injustices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commit-injustices-6062249/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Injustice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/injustice/) [Injustices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/injustices/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/as-long-as-people-believe-in-absurdities-they-will-continue-to-commit/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Those who believe absurdities will commit atrocities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/those-who-believe-absurdities-will-commit-atrocities/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/if-we-believe-absurdities-we-shall-commit-atrocities/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Men will commit atrocities as long as they believe absurdities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-will-commit-atrocities-as-long-as-they-believe-absurdities/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“Those who can be made to believe absurdities can be made to commit atrocities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/those-who-can-be-made-to-believe-absurdities-can-be-made-to-commit/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/those-who-can-make-you-believe-absurdities-can-make-you-commit/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“When you believe in absurdities, it will be very easy for you to commit atrocities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chidi-ejeagba/when-you-believe-in-absurdities-it-will-be-very-easy-for-you-to/) [Chidi Ejeagba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chidi-ejeagba/) > [“Voltaire got it right long ago: ‘Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.’ So did Bertrand Russell: ‘Many people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/voltaire-got-it-right-long-ago-those-who-can-make-you-believe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The take-home message is that we should blame religion itself, not religious extremism - as though that were some kind of terrible perversion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-take-home-message-is-that-we-should-blame-religion-itself-not/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [False reasoners are often best confuted by giving them the full swing of their own absurdities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/false-reasoners-are-often-best-confuted-by-giving-them-the-full-swing/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [But whatever you do, take neither yourselves nor your fellow-creatures too seriously. There is tragedy enough in our daily routine, but there is room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/but-whatever-you-do-take-neither-yourselves-nor-your-fellow-creatures/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [“It is with philosophy as with religion : men marvel at the absurdity of other people's tenets, while exactly parallel absurdities remain in their own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/it-is-with-philosophy-as-with-religion-men-marvel-at-the-absurdity-of/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [What monstrous absurdities and paradoxes have resisted whole batteries of serious arguments, and then crumbled swiftly into dust before the ringing death-knell of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/what-monstrous-absurdities-and-paradoxes-have-resisted-whole/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [My work is not so much a direct commentary as it is an open-ended observation of the absurdities around us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ori-gersht/my-work-is-not-so-much-a-direct-commentary-as-it-is-an-open-ended/) [Ori Gersht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ori-gersht/) > [Thought of the incomprehensible sequence of changes and chances that make up a life, all the beauties and horrors and absurdities whose conjunctions create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/thought-of-the-incomprehensible-sequence-of-changes-and-chances-that/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## More by Voltaire > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Fanaticism, to which men are so much inclined, has always served not only to render them more brutalized but more wicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/fanaticism-to-which-men-are-so-much-inclined-has-always-served-not/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [History is the study of the world's crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/history-is-the-study-of-the-world-s-crime/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we-do-the-best-we-know/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part, the rest are lost in the multitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-with-books-as-with-men-a-very-small-number-play-a-great-part/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Meslier was the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the meteors fatal to the Christian religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/meslier-was-the-most-singular-phenomenon-ever-seen-among-all-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Being unable to make people more reasonable, I preferred to be happy away from them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/being-unable-to-make-people-more-reasonable-i-preferred-to-be-happy/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease or not?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/when-his-highness-sends-a-ship-to-egypt-does-he-trouble-his-head/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/madness-is-to-think-of-too-many-things-in-succession-too-fast-or-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/god-gave-us-the-gift-of-life-it-is-up-to-us-to-give-ourselves-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-not-inequality-which-is-the-real-misfortune-it-is-dependence/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Providence has given us hope and sleep as a compensation for the many cares of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/providence-has-given-us-hope-and-sleep-as-a-compensation-for-the-many/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-to-justify-their-wrong-doings-and-employ-speech/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/work-spares-us-from-three-evils-boredom-vice-and-need/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) [Explore all 934 Voltaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More Absurdities quotes > [Thought of the incomprehensible sequence of changes and chances that make up a life, all the beauties and horrors and absurdities whose conjunctions create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/thought-of-the-incomprehensible-sequence-of-changes-and-chances-that/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [My work is not so much a direct commentary as it is an open-ended observation of the absurdities around us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ori-gersht/my-work-is-not-so-much-a-direct-commentary-as-it-is-an-open-ended/) [Ori Gersht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ori-gersht/) > [What monstrous absurdities and paradoxes have resisted whole batteries of serious arguments, and then crumbled swiftly into dust before the ringing death-knell of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/what-monstrous-absurdities-and-paradoxes-have-resisted-whole/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [“It is with philosophy as with religion : men marvel at the absurdity of other people's tenets, while exactly parallel absurdities remain in their own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/it-is-with-philosophy-as-with-religion-men-marvel-at-the-absurdity-of/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [But whatever you do, take neither yourselves nor your fellow-creatures too seriously. There is tragedy enough in our daily routine, but there is room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/but-whatever-you-do-take-neither-yourselves-nor-your-fellow-creatures/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [False reasoners are often best confuted by giving them the full swing of their own absurdities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/false-reasoners-are-often-best-confuted-by-giving-them-the-full-swing/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [To all the rest of his Absurdities, (for vice is always unreasonable,) he adds one more, who expects that Vertue from another which he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-astell/to-all-the-rest-of-his-absurdities-for-vice-is-always-unreasonable-he/) [Mary Astell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-astell/) > [“I have now gone through the examination of the four books ascribed to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; and when it is considered that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/i-have-now-gone-through-the-examination-of-the-four-books-ascribed-to/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [One is more certain to influence men, to produce more effect on them, by absurdities than by sensible ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/one-is-more-certain-to-influence-men-to-produce-more-effect-on-them/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [How important the concept of God is, and how instead of valuing what has been given us, we with light hearts spurn it because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/how-important-the-concept-of-god-is-and-how-instead-of-valuing-what/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Absurdities are great or small in proportion to custom or insuetude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/absurdities-are-great-or-small-in-proportion-to-custom-or-insuetude/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [“More absurdity in myself, endless absurdities. My own childishness sometimes amused me. Would it amuse others? Were others like myself, hopelessly childish?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-anderson/more-absurdity-in-myself-endless-absurdities-my-own-childishness/) [Sherwood Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-anderson/) > [The idea that each corporation can be a feudal monarchy and yet behave in its corporate action like a democratic citizen concerned for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-idea-that-each-corporation-can-be-a-feudal-monarchy-and-yet/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Poor human reason, when it trusts in itself, substitutes the strangest absurdities for the highest divine concepts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/poor-human-reason-when-it-trusts-in-itself-substitutes-the-strangest/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The most pernicious of absurdities is that weak, blind, stupid faith is better than the constant practice of every human virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/the-most-pernicious-of-absurdities-is-that-weak-blind-stupid-faith-is/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) [Browse all 78 Absurdities quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdities/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Voltaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/anyone-who-has-the-power-to-make-you-believe-absurdities-has-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absurdities" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/anyone-who-has-the-power-to-make-you-believe-absurdities-has-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/voltaire-173_absurdities_anyone-who-has-the-power-to-make-you-bel_1596688.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/voltaire-173_absurdities_anyone-who-has-the-power-to-make-you-bel_1596688.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/voltaire-173_absurdities_anyone-who-has-the-power-to-make-you-bel_1596688.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.” — Voltaire", "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": "Voltaire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Anyone who has the power to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/anyone-who-has-the-power-to-make-you-believe-absurdities-has-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/anyone-who-has-the-power-to-make-you-believe-absurdities-has-the/#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 } } ] } ```