--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The whole plot was a sinister drollery…" description: "\"“The whole plot was a sinister drollery, the simple delight of stirring up great crowds to die and kill, of one who could not be swayed by anything him..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/442/william-bolitho-13023_fear_the-whole-plot-was-a-sinister-drollery-t_2438770.jpg" --- # The whole plot was a sinister drollery, the simple delight… ![“The whole plot was a sinister drollery, the simple delight of stirring up great crowds to die and kill, of one who could not be swayed by anything himself; the anticipation of the spectacle of fear by one who was terrified at nothing. The vice of a man who had become inhuman by losing his human…” quote by William Bolitho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/442/william-bolitho-13023_fear_the-whole-plot-was-a-sinister-drollery-t_2438770.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/442/william-bolitho-13023_fear_the-whole-plot-was-a-sinister-drollery-t_2438770.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/442/william-bolitho-13023_fear_the-whole-plot-was-a-sinister-drollery-t_2438770.jpg) > ““The whole plot was a sinister drollery, the simple delight of stirring up great crowds to die and kill, of one who could not be swayed by anything himself; the anticipation of the spectacle of fear by one who was terrified at nothing. The vice of a man who had become inhuman by losing his human greed.”” [William Bolitho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bolitho/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker revels in manipulating masses, finding pleasure in fear and inhumanity. **In simple terms:** He enjoys controlling crowds and feeling no fear. Key Takeaway Beware of those who exploit fear for power. Themes power manipulation fear inhumanity ethics Mood cautious critical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - political campaigns - propaganda - cult leadership - media influence - military strategy Key Concepts political theory psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - Why do people enjoy fear? - How can societies resist manipulative leaders? A Different Perspective Such manipulation can backfire and cause societal collapse. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Man Inhuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-inhuman-468635/) [Plot Sinister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plot-sinister-468634/) [Sinister Drollery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sinister-drollery-468633/) [Spectacle Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spectacle-fear-468636/) [Terrified Vice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrified-vice-468637/) ## Related quotes > [Nothing regarding man is ever inhuman. That's why I make films, not iceboxes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelangelo-antonioni/nothing-regarding-man-is-ever-inhuman-that-s-why-i-make-films-not/) [Michelangelo Antonioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelangelo-antonioni/) > [“Damn me not I make a better fool. And there is nothing vaster, more beautiful, remote, unthinking (eternal rose-red sunrise on the surf—great rectitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/damn-me-not-i-make-a-better-fool-and-there-is-nothing-vaster-more/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [Fear is a disease that eats away at logic and makes man inhuman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-anderson/fear-is-a-disease-that-eats-away-at-logic-and-makes-man-inhuman/) [Marian Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-anderson/) > [“Carrie Fisher. “Stay afraid, but do it anyway.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-union/carrie-fisher-stay-afraid-but-do-it-anyway/) [Gabrielle Union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-union/) > [“Fear and desire for pleasure. Aggressiveness comes out of fear, predominantly, and sexuality predominantly out of the other. 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But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [“I had nowhere to go and did not wish to be seen by anyone for fear they would recognize my sadness and so for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-dewitt/i-had-nowhere-to-go-and-did-not-wish-to-be-seen-by-anyone-for-fear/) [Patrick deWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-dewitt/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [“We all know how the thing we secretly fear is not a secret at all but the open and eternal thing that predicts its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/we-all-know-how-the-thing-we-secretly-fear-is-not-a-secret-at-all-but/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Anything that you find yourself worrying about regularly may find you suddenly wanting unrealistic changes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nagisa-tatsumi/anything-that-you-find-yourself-worrying-about-regularly-may-find-you/) [Nagisa Tatsumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nagisa-tatsumi/) > [What an incredible drug fear is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/what-an-incredible-drug-fear-is/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“...Often that which most we fear births the resolve that spurs us on to altitudes we could not have achieved, had we continued walking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-t-anderson/often-that-which-most-we-fear-births-the-resolve-that-spurs-us-on-to/) [M.T. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-t-anderson/) > [“That horrible stinging sensation returned, the muscles behind my eyes straining as the first tear began to fall. “I’m scared, too. For eighteen months…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devon-ashley/that-horrible-stinging-sensation-returned-the-muscles-behind-my-eyes/) [Devon Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devon-ashley/) > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) ## More by William Bolitho > [“To a Bonaparte it represents what Jacob Astor meant when he said, “The first hundred thousand dollars are the most difficult.” It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bolitho/to-a-bonaparte-it-represents-what-jacob-astor-meant-when-he-said-the/) [William Bolitho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bolitho/) > [“All these outposts were broken in,and that which in other histories would have counted as three victories did not delay the progress of Charles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bolitho/all-these-outposts-were-broken-in-and-that-which-in-other-histories/) [William Bolitho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bolitho/) > [The profession of magician, isone of the most perilous and arduous specialisations of the imagination. 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The life of adventure is an unsocial game; therefore in direct contrast with the married, supported…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bolitho/the-adventurer-by-minimum-definition-is-an-individualist-the-life-of/) [William Bolitho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bolitho/) > [“Like most people of his temperament, though sociable, he (Napolean) disliked company in which he would have to appear merely as one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bolitho/like-most-people-of-his-temperament-though-sociable-he-napolean/) [William Bolitho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bolitho/) > [The profession of magician, is one of the most perilous and arduous specializations of the imagination. On the one hand there is the hostility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bolitho/the-profession-of-magician-is-one-of-the-most-perilous-and-arduous/) [William Bolitho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bolitho/) > [“Napoleon fell into the situation that is the misery of many men of action, and lost the power of enjoying things directly, by himself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bolitho/napoleon-fell-into-the-situation-that-is-the-misery-of-many-men-of/) [William Bolitho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bolitho/) > [It is when Pirates count their booty that they become mere thieves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bolitho/it-is-when-pirates-count-their-booty-that-they-become-mere-thieves/) [William Bolitho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bolitho/) > [“In politics, where everything romantic and sentimental is folly, the converse is usually considered true, and every brutality is thought sound sense”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bolitho/in-politics-where-everything-romantic-and-sentimental-is-folly-the/) [William Bolitho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bolitho/) > [“The historic moment is always simple and brief: it belongs to one man and one will alone, without possibility (if it be truly ripe)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bolitho/the-historic-moment-is-always-simple-and-brief-it-belongs-to-one-man/) [William Bolitho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bolitho/) [Explore all 52 William Bolitho quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bolitho/) ## More Fear quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [“That horrible stinging sensation returned, the muscles behind my eyes straining as the first tear began to fall. “I’m scared, too. 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Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-t-anderson/) > [What an incredible drug fear is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/what-an-incredible-drug-fear-is/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“Anything that you find yourself worrying about regularly may find you suddenly wanting unrealistic changes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nagisa-tatsumi/anything-that-you-find-yourself-worrying-about-regularly-may-find-you/) [Nagisa Tatsumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nagisa-tatsumi/) > [“We all know how the thing we secretly fear is not a secret at all but the open and eternal thing that predicts its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/we-all-know-how-the-thing-we-secretly-fear-is-not-a-secret-at-all-but/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [“I had nowhere to go and did not wish to be seen by anyone for fear they would recognize my sadness and so for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-dewitt/i-had-nowhere-to-go-and-did-not-wish-to-be-seen-by-anyone-for-fear/) [Patrick deWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-dewitt/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [“Snip off the little worries and expressions of worry” like little branches atop a tall tree.28 If you are truly worried, sharing your concerns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-sanders/snip-off-the-little-worries-and-expressions-of-worry-like-little/) [Tim Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-sanders/) > [“Fear and desire for pleasure. Aggressiveness comes out of fear, predominantly, and sexuality predominantly out of the other. But they mix in the middle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-french/fear-and-desire-for-pleasure-aggressiveness-comes-out-of-fear/) [Marilyn French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-french/) > [“Carrie Fisher. “Stay afraid, but do it anyway.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-union/carrie-fisher-stay-afraid-but-do-it-anyway/) [Gabrielle Union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-union/) > [“Yes, the issue was courage. It always had been, even as a kid. Things scared him. He couldn't help it. Noise scared him, dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-brien/yes-the-issue-was-courage-it-always-had-been-even-as-a-kid-things/) [Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) > [Don't be afraid of hard work. Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Don't let others discourage you or tell you that you can't do it. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-b-elion/don-t-be-afraid-of-hard-work-nothing-worthwhile-comes-easily-don-t/) [Gertrude B. 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