--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He who can lead you to believe an…" description: "\"He who can lead you to believe an absurdity can lead you to commit an atrocity.\" — Voltaire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f7/voltaire-173_absurdity_he-who-can-lead-you-to-believe-an-absurd_2853345.png" --- # He who can lead you to believe an absurdity can lead you… ![“He who can lead you to believe an absurdity can lead you to commit an atrocity.” quote by Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f7/voltaire-173_absurdity_he-who-can-lead-you-to-believe-an-absurd_2853345.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f7/voltaire-173_absurdity_he-who-can-lead-you-to-believe-an-absurd_2853345.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f7/voltaire-173_absurdity_he-who-can-lead-you-to-believe-an-absurd_2853345.png) > “He who can lead you to believe an absurdity can lead you to commit an atrocity.” [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. If you can convince people an absurd idea is true, they may act on it, leading to harmful deeds. **In simple terms:** Belief in nonsense can cause atrocities. Key Takeaway Question and test ideas before acceptance. Themes propaganda absurdity danger Mood skeptical serious Type philosophical political When to use this quote - politics - media - education - leadership Key Concepts critical thinking ethics Questions to Reflect On - How do you spot absurd claims? - What safeguards prevent harmful actions? A Different Perspective People may resist questioning deeply held beliefs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurdity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdity/) [Atrocities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atrocities/) [Atrocity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atrocity/) ## Related quotes > [“When once a man is determined to believe, the very absurdity of the doctrine does but confirm him in his faith.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junius/when-once-a-man-is-determined-to-believe-the-very-absurdity-of-the/) [Junius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junius/) > [When a person is determined to believe something, the very absurdity of the doctrine confirms them in their faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junius/when-a-person-is-determined-to-believe-something-the-very-absurdity/) [Junius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junius/) > [“Some stories have to be written because no one would believe the absurdity of it all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/some-stories-have-to-be-written-because-no-one-would-believe-the/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [Atrocity never balances or rectifies the past. Atrocity merely arms the future for more atrocity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/atrocity-never-balances-or-rectifies-the-past-atrocity-merely-arms/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Fanatics can justify practically any atrocity to themselves. The more untenable their position becomes, the harder they hold to it, and the worse the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercedes-lackey/fanatics-can-justify-practically-any-atrocity-to-themselves-the-more/) [Mercedes Lackey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercedes-lackey/) > [“The character of Moses, as stated in the Bible, is the most horrid that can be imagined. If those accounts be true, he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-character-of-moses-as-stated-in-the-bible-is-the-most-horrid-that/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Funboy: Pal, something is seriously wrong with you. The Crow: Atrocity has that effect on me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/funboy-pal-something-is-seriously-wrong-with-you-the-crow-atrocity/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [“I am the center of an atrocity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-am-the-center-of-an-atrocity/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Abortion is an atrocity. Those who practice or praise it are either damn idiots, misguided fools, or treacherous devils.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-titus/abortion-is-an-atrocity-those-who-practice-or-praise-it-are-either/) [Christopher Titus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-titus/) > [“We must let love simmer, without being consumed by contempt, otherwise atrocity will never end, only switch sides.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/we-must-let-love-simmer-without-being-consumed-by-contempt-otherwise/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [The biggest atrocity of all is to indoctrinate our children into a system that does not value their creative expression, nor encourage their unique…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-greene/the-biggest-atrocity-of-all-is-to-indoctrinate-our-children-into-a/) Benjamin Greene > [It is in our nature to enjoy atrocity so long as it continues to shock and remains comfortably removed from our own lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-marantz-cohen/it-is-in-our-nature-to-enjoy-atrocity-so-long-as-it-continues-to/) [Paula Marantz Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-marantz-cohen/) > [After all this atrocity, this is how human beings really pray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-novogratz/after-all-this-atrocity-this-is-how-human-beings-really-pray/) [Jacqueline Novogratz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-novogratz/) ## 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 Absurdity quotes > [Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-ochs/even-though-you-can-t-expect-to-defeat-the-absurdity-of-the-world-you/) [Phil Ochs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-ochs/) > [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/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [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/) > [One would think that a system loaded with such gross and vulgar absurdities as Scripture religion is could never have obtained credit; yet we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/one-would-think-that-a-system-loaded-with-such-gross-and-vulgar/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [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/) > [We all live inside the terrible engine of authority, and it grinds and shrieks and burns so that no one will say: lines on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/we-all-live-inside-the-terrible-engine-of-authority-and-it-grinds-and/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Desire is this absurdity that holds open the infinity of possibility. Ever optimistic, ever resourceful, desire tells us what it sees as it speeds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-farley/desire-is-this-absurdity-that-holds-open-the-infinity-of-possibility/) Wendy Farley > [I've always felt that comedy doesn't just come from misery. It comes from an absurdity around that misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-amstell/i-ve-always-felt-that-comedy-doesn-t-just-come-from-misery-it-comes/) [Simon Amstell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-amstell/) > [Unaware of the absurdity of it, we introduce our own petty household rules into the economy of the universe for which the life of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-herzen/unaware-of-the-absurdity-of-it-we-introduce-our-own-petty-household/) [Alexander Herzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-herzen/) > [“Christianity would be helpless without the idea of free will and the idea of free will would be helpless without incongruity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/christianity-would-be-helpless-without-the-idea-of-free-will-and-the/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [Sensible Catholics have for generations been ignoring the views on contraception held by reactionary old men in the Vatican, but alas, since it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/sensible-catholics-have-for-generations-been-ignoring-the-views-on/) [A.C. Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-grayling/) > [The tales of our exploits will survive as long as the human voice itself,' he said. 'And even after that, when the robots recall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/the-tales-of-our-exploits-will-survive-as-long-as-the-human-voice/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Life packed a clever one-two punch: cruelty and absurdity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/life-packed-a-clever-one-two-punch-cruelty-and-absurdity/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) [Browse all 689 Absurdity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He who can lead you to believe an absurdity can lead you to commit an atrocity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Voltaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/he-who-can-lead-you-to-believe-an-absurdity-can-lead-you-to-commit-an/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absurdity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/he-who-can-lead-you-to-believe-an-absurdity-can-lead-you-to-commit-an/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f7/voltaire-173_absurdity_he-who-can-lead-you-to-believe-an-absurd_2853345.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f7/voltaire-173_absurdity_he-who-can-lead-you-to-believe-an-absurd_2853345.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f7/voltaire-173_absurdity_he-who-can-lead-you-to-believe-an-absurd_2853345.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He who can lead you to believe an absurdity can lead you to commit an atrocity.” — 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": "He who can lead you to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/he-who-can-lead-you-to-believe-an-absurdity-can-lead-you-to-commit-an/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/he-who-can-lead-you-to-believe-an-absurdity-can-lead-you-to-commit-an/#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 } } ] } ```