--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as…" description: "\"Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's witch being hunted.\" — Walter Kirn" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/walter-kirn-2189_hunted_everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-i_28764.png" --- # Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's… ![“Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's witch being hunted.” quote by Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/walter-kirn-2189_hunted_everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-i_28764.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/walter-kirn-2189_hunted_everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-i_28764.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/walter-kirn-2189_hunted_everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-i_28764.png) > “Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's witch being hunted.” [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People enjoy punishing perceived wrongdoers, especially when the target is not themselves, reflecting a tendency to externalize blame and derive satisfaction from others' misfortune. **In simple terms:** Schadenfreude in scapegoating Key Takeaway We relish judging others' faults when they aren't ours Themes human nature social psychology morality group dynamics blame shifting Mood cynical critical reflective Type aphor social commentary When to use this quote - political campaigns - workplace gossip - online trolling - media sensationalism Key Concepts bias justice empathy power Practical Applications - analysis of public opinion - design of ethical communication Questions to Reflect On - Why do we find comfort in others' failures? - How does this behavior affect societal trust? A Different Perspective Some may argue that collective condemnation can serve as a social corrective, but it often masks self-interest and hinders accountability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hunted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunted/) [Hunts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunts/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long Witch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-witch-420071/) [Loves Witch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loves-witch-420070/) [Witch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/witch/) [Witch hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/witch-hunt/) [Witch Hunted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/witch-hunted-420069/) ## Related quotes > [We shall therefore compare the concept of homosexuality as heresy, prevalent in the days of the witch-hunts, with the concept of homosexuality as mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/we-shall-therefore-compare-the-concept-of-homosexuality-as-heresy/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [The witch-hunt was a perverse manifestation of the panic which set in among all classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/the-witch-hunt-was-a-perverse-manifestation-of-the-panic-which-set-in/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [Lord, there's danger in this land, you get witch hunts and wars when church and state hold hands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/lord-there-s-danger-in-this-land-you-get-witch-hunts-and-wars-when/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [Witch-hunts are always spooked by women's horrifying sexuality awakened by the superstud Devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/witch-hunts-are-always-spooked-by-women-s-horrifying-sexuality/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [We grow tyrannical fighting tyranny. . . . The most alarming spectacle today is not the spectacle of the atomic bomb in an unfederated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/we-grow-tyrannical-fighting-tyranny-the-most-alarming-spectacle-today/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [Of course, we all have to be taxed, but once you start to earn more than £150,000, and start paying 45 per cent tax,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthea-turner/of-course-we-all-have-to-be-taxed-but-once-you-start-to-earn-more/) [Anthea Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthea-turner/) > [Are Singaporeans so easily offended? Please. Have more of a backbone and thick-skin. Are you going to go on a frenzied witch hunt just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-cheng/are-singaporeans-so-easily-offended-please-have-more-of-a-backbone/) [Calvin Cheng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-cheng/) > [Joe McCarthy and his Senate hearings were like witch-hunts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desi-arnaz/joe-mccarthy-and-his-senate-hearings-were-like-witch-hunts/) [Desi Arnaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desi-arnaz/) > [There was just too much evidence, from too many witnesses, pointing too many fingers at Ryan and his colleague for either defense team to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-cohen/there-was-just-too-much-evidence-from-too-many-witnesses-pointing-too/) [Andrew Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-cohen/) > [ \[A 2005 response to doping allegations\] Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and tomorrow's article is nothing short of tabloid journalism. The paper even admits… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-armstrong/a-2005-response-to-doping-allegations-unfortunately-the-witch-hunt/) [Lance Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-armstrong/) > [It's funny how everyone hates witch hunts... until they see a witch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/it-s-funny-how-everyone-hates-witch-hunts-until-they-see-a-witch/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [That is the essence of a witch-hunt, that any questioning of the evidence or the procedures in itself constitutes proof of complicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bergen-evans/that-is-the-essence-of-a-witch-hunt-that-any-questioning-of-the/) [Bergen Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bergen-evans/) > [The arrogance of some of those who are so damned sure they are right is just astounding. Scientific witch hunts are often the worst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-pournelle/the-arrogance-of-some-of-those-who-are-so-damned-sure-they-are-right/) [Jerry Pournelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-pournelle/) > [You not only are hunted by others, you unknowingly hunt yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/you-not-only-are-hunted-by-others-you-unknowingly-hunt-yourself/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [Isn’t there a time or two you can remember when somehow an animal you’ve hunted has done something to make you let him vanish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-hill/isn-t-there-a-time-or-two-you-can-remember-when-somehow-an-animal-you/) [Gene Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-hill/) ## More by Walter Kirn > [“I just wasn't ready for his stories. They'd breed with the others I'd heard and hatch new monsters, because there was no such thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/i-just-wasn-t-ready-for-his-stories-they-d-breed-with-the-others-i-d/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [It's no accident that most self-help groups use 'anonymous' in their names; to Americans, the first step toward redemption is a ritual wiping out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/it-s-no-accident-that-most-self-help-groups-use-anonymous-in-their/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“For time to pass it would have to go somewhere, and where would that be? Time sits. We move, it sits. Sometimes it trembles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/for-time-to-pass-it-would-have-to-go-somewhere-and-where-would-that/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Once you realize just the sort of glut of books that exists out there, it does become incumbent on you not to add to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/once-you-realize-just-the-sort-of-glut-of-books-that-exists-out-there/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [There are two sides to me. One is the writer. That's a savage person who looks at everything as a story and, you know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/there-are-two-sides-to-me-one-is-the-writer-that-s-a-savage-person/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [I remember the first time I went to Italy when I was eighteen, I was in Florence and there were all these eighteen, nineteen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/i-remember-the-first-time-i-went-to-italy-when-i-was-eighteen-i-was/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Quiet cunning bested boastful brawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/quiet-cunning-bested-boastful-brawn/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [The idea that Americans favor politicians who either remind them of themselves or can imagine what their selves are like because they too have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/the-idea-that-americans-favor-politicians-who-either-remind-them-of/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“Our habit of wishing backward from what is to what might have been is the soft but persistent tapping that cracks the crystal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/our-habit-of-wishing-backward-from-what-is-to-what-might-have-been-is/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Memo to extreme partisans: If you can't bring yourselves to love your enemies, can you at least learn to hate your friends?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/memo-to-extreme-partisans-if-you-can-t-bring-yourselves-to-love-your/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [People can be so neglectful of each other and of their own heritage - then death intrudes. Conversations we wish that we'd had earlier…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/people-can-be-so-neglectful-of-each-other-and-of-their-own-heritage/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [I'd assumed that a deal was a deal when Princeton admitted me, but I was wrong. The price of getting in - to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/i-d-assumed-that-a-deal-was-a-deal-when-princeton-admitted-me-but-i/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [The reason that last-ditch political maneuvering has become business as usual in Washington is that the actors involved are drunk on blame and are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/the-reason-that-last-ditch-political-maneuvering-has-become-business/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“Meanness on request isn't meanness at all, but kindness carried too far.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/meanness-on-request-isn-t-meanness-at-all-but-kindness-carried-too-far/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“Liars are exhausting people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/liars-are-exhausting-people/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) [Explore all 177 Walter Kirn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) ## More Hunted quotes > [“Last night, the Hunter was hunted. Do you remember how hard I made you cum?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-james/last-night-the-hunter-was-hunted-do-you-remember-how-hard-i-made-you/) [Ella James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-james/) > [Viewed from a holistic ecological perspective, some meat - such as conscientiously hunted animals - involves less suffering and environmental damage than arable agriculture,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tristram-stuart/viewed-from-a-holistic-ecological-perspective-some-meat-such-as/) [Tristram Stuart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristram-stuart/) > [Perseus wore a magic cap that the monsters he hunted down might not see him. We draw the magic cap down over eyes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/perseus-wore-a-magic-cap-that-the-monsters-he-hunted-down-might-not/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Home? I have no home. Hunted, despised, living like an animal. The jungle is my home. But I will show the world that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-wood/home-i-have-no-home-hunted-despised-living-like-an-animal-the-jungle/) [Ed Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-wood/) > [Certainly the first true humans were unique by virtue of their large brains. It was because the human brain is so large when compared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goodall/certainly-the-first-true-humans-were-unique-by-virtue-of-their-large/) [Jane Goodall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goodall/) > [It is much easier to be the hunter than the hunted. When you are the one not expected to do anything, you play better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-payton/it-is-much-easier-to-be-the-hunter-than-the-hunted-when-you-are-the/) [Gary Payton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-payton/) > [In searching for the self, one cannot simultaneously be the hunter and the hunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-ryle/in-searching-for-the-self-one-cannot-simultaneously-be-the-hunter-and/) [Gilbert Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-ryle/) > [I hunted all through the four Gospels trying to find one of Christ's funeral sermons, but I couldn't find any. I found He broke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-l-moody/i-hunted-all-through-the-four-gospels-trying-to-find-one-of-christ-s/) [Dwight L. Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-l-moody/) > [It was far in the sameness of the wood; I was running with joy on the Demon's trail, Though I knew what I hunted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/it-was-far-in-the-sameness-of-the-wood-i-was-running-with-joy-on-the/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [I grew up in a whaling town. We didn't stop whaling in Australia until 1978. And I've always lived in fishing communities. You could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/i-grew-up-in-a-whaling-town-we-didn-t-stop-whaling-in-australia-until/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [There were studies that asked people in different cultures to draw pictures of their enemies, and the pictures all looked remarkably the same. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/there-were-studies-that-asked-people-in-different-cultures-to-draw/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [ There are certain aspects of celebrity that I understand, although that's not the main point of the story \[in Assassination of Jesse James\] ,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-pitt/there-are-certain-aspects-of-celebrity-that-i-understand-although/) [Brad Pitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-pitt/) > [I'm tired of being hunted all over. I can't go anywhere without criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bela-karolyi/i-m-tired-of-being-hunted-all-over-i-can-t-go-anywhere-without/) [Bela Karolyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bela-karolyi/) > [You can be the hunter, or you can be the hunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-gardner/you-can-be-the-hunter-or-you-can-be-the-hunted/) [Lisa Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-gardner/) > [A dog starv'd at the master's gate Predicts the ruin of the State. A horse misus'd upon the road Calls to heaven for human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/a-dog-starv-d-at-the-master-s-gate-predicts-the-ruin-of-the-state-a/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) [Browse all 172 Hunted quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunted/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's witch being hunted.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Walter Kirn" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-it-s-someone-else-s-witch/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hunted" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-it-s-someone-else-s-witch/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/walter-kirn-2189_hunted_everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-i_28764.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/walter-kirn-2189_hunted_everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-i_28764.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/walter-kirn-2189_hunted_everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-i_28764.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's witch being hunted.” — Walter Kirn", "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": "Walter Kirn", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Everyone loves a witch hunt as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-it-s-someone-else-s-witch/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-it-s-someone-else-s-witch/#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 } } ] } ```