--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When the imagination is continually led…" description: "\"When the imagination is continually led to the brink of vice by a system of terror and denunciations, people fling themselves over the precipice from t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/william-hazlitt-326_dread_when-the-imagination-is-continually-led_2590543.png" --- # When the imagination is continually led to the brink of… ![“When the imagination is continually led to the brink of vice by a system of terror and denunciations, people fling themselves over the precipice from the mere dread of falling.” quote by William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/william-hazlitt-326_dread_when-the-imagination-is-continually-led_2590543.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/william-hazlitt-326_dread_when-the-imagination-is-continually-led_2590543.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/william-hazlitt-326_dread_when-the-imagination-is-continually-led_2590543.png) > “When the imagination is continually led to the brink of vice by a system of terror and denunciations, people fling themselves over the precipice from the mere dread of falling.” [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Constant fear and denunciation push people to extreme actions out of dread. **In simple terms:** Fear drives reckless behavior. Key Takeaway Recognize and reduce systemic terror. Themes fear social pressure psychology Mood anxious critical Type philosophical social commentary When to use this quote - political oppression - workplace bullying - online shaming - authoritarian Key Concepts authoritarianism mass hysteria psychological stress Questions to Reflect On - How does fear influence your decisions? - What systems perpetuate fear? A Different Perspective ;Fear can be manipulated to control populations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Vices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vices/) ## Related quotes > [I must do something to keep my thoughts fresh and growing. I dread nothing so much as falling into a rut and feeling myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/i-must-do-something-to-keep-my-thoughts-fresh-and-growing-i-dread/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [“I have often wondered since at my own firmness. In that dreadful interview with my uncle I had felt, in the whirl and horror…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-fanu-joseph-sheridan/i-have-often-wondered-since-at-my-own-firmness-in-that-dreadful/) [Le Fanu Joseph Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-fanu-joseph-sheridan/) > [It is easier taking the beaten path than making our way over bogs and precipices. The great difficulty in philosophy is to come to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/it-is-easier-taking-the-beaten-path-than-making-our-way-over-bogs-and/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [You have to run risks. There are no certainties in war. There is a precipice on either side of you - a precipice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/you-have-to-run-risks-there-are-no-certainties-in-war-there-is-a/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [“There it was again, the prickling sense of standing on a precipice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-myracle-let-it-snow/there-it-was-again-the-prickling-sense-of-standing-on-a-precipice/) Lauren Myracle (Let It Snow > [The rarity is the sudden epiphany or single turning point showing you with dramatic clarity that your marriage is over, although that does happen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wasser/the-rarity-is-the-sudden-epiphany-or-single-turning-point-showing-you/) [Laura Wasser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wasser/) > [Freeze, freeze in the winter, if you really want to appreciate the summer! Walk, walk at the edge of the precipices, if you rightly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/freeze-freeze-in-the-winter-if-you-really-want-to-appreciate-the/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Doubt is a precipice on the way to God. Blessed is he who is freed from its bonds. He who fares without any doubt,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/doubt-is-a-precipice-on-the-way-to-god-blessed-is-he-who-is-freed/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Life is a picnic on a precipice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/life-is-a-picnic-on-a-precipice/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [I like playing characters who are out there on the edge, where they can explode at any moment or fall off the precipice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-lange/i-like-playing-characters-who-are-out-there-on-the-edge-where-they/) [Jessica Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-lange/) > [If we don't want temptation to follow us, we shouldn't act as if we are interested. No one ever fell over a precipice who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-l-evans/if-we-don-t-want-temptation-to-follow-us-we-shouldn-t-act-as-if-we/) [Richard L. Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-l-evans/) > [“Foolish man, what do you bemoan, and what do you fear? Wherever you look there is an end of evils. You see that yawning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/foolish-man-what-do-you-bemoan-and-what-do-you-fear-wherever-you-look/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [War creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/war-creates-no-absolutely-new-situation-it-simply-aggravates-the/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Poetry is like walking along a little, tiny, narrow ridge up on a precipice. You never know the next step, whether there's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-jacobsen/poetry-is-like-walking-along-a-little-tiny-narrow-ridge-up-on-a/) Josephine Jacobsen > [Man always travels along precipices... His truest obligation is to keep his balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/man-always-travels-along-precipices-his-truest-obligation-is-to-keep/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) ## More by William Hazlitt > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-art-of-life-is-to-know-how-to-enjoy-a-little-and-to-endure-very/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We are thankful for good-will rather than for services, for the motive than the quantum of favor received.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-are-thankful-for-good-will-rather-than-for-services-for-the-motive/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The discussing the characters and foibles of common friends is a great sweetness and cement of friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-discussing-the-characters-and-foibles-of-common-friends-is-a/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Want of principle is power. Truth and honesty set a limit to our efforts, which impudence and hypocrisy easily overleap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/want-of-principle-is-power-truth-and-honesty-set-a-limit-to-our/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Repose is as necessary in conversation as in a picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/repose-is-as-necessary-in-conversation-as-in-a-picture/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [No act terminating in itself constitutes greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/no-act-terminating-in-itself-constitutes-greatness/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Vice is man's nature: virtue is a habit--or a mask.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/vice-is-man-s-nature-virtue-is-a-habit-or-a-mask/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We never do anything well till we cease to think about the manner doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-never-do-anything-well-till-we-cease-to-think-about-the-manner/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/man-is-the-only-animal-that-laughs-and-weeps-for-he-is-the-only/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Those who have had none of the cares of this life to harass and disturb them, have been obliged to have recourse to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/those-who-have-had-none-of-the-cares-of-this-life-to-harass-and/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Poverty, when it is voluntary, is never despicable, but takes an heroical aspect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/poverty-when-it-is-voluntary-is-never-despicable-but-takes-an/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We are not satisfied to be right, unless we can prove others to be quite wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-are-not-satisfied-to-be-right-unless-we-can-prove-others-to-be/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The world judge of men by their ability in their profession, and we judge of ourselves by the same test: for it is on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-world-judge-of-men-by-their-ability-in-their-profession-and-we/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The best part of our lives we pass in counting on what is to come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-best-part-of-our-lives-we-pass-in-counting-on-what-is-to-come/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) [Explore all 671 William Hazlitt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## More Dread quotes > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Smart people duck when they hear the dread announcement 'I'm going to be perfectly honest with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-martin/smart-people-duck-when-they-hear-the-dread-announcement-i-m-going-to/) [Judith Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-martin/) > [In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-times-of-dread-artists-must-never-choose-to-remain-silent/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Oh, I'm being eaten By a boa constrictor, A boa constrictor, A boa constrictor, I'm being eaten by a boa constrictor, And I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shel-silverstein/oh-i-m-being-eaten-by-a-boa-constrictor-a-boa-constrictor-a-boa/) [Shel Silverstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shel-silverstein/) > [Present sufferings seem far greater to men than those they merely dread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/present-sufferings-seem-far-greater-to-men-than-those-they-merely/) [Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/) > [The advance of science spares us from irrational dread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/the-advance-of-science-spares-us-from-irrational-dread/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [I think writer's block is simply the dread that you are going to write something horrible. But as a writer, I believe that if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-blount-jr/i-think-writer-s-block-is-simply-the-dread-that-you-are-going-to/) [Roy Blount, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-blount-jr/) > [I think most amateurs dread playing a 180-plus-yard par 3 even more than a hard par 4. Part of it is psychological: You think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-els/i-think-most-amateurs-dread-playing-a-180-plus-yard-par-3-even-more/) [Ernie Els](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-els/) > [The psychological condition of fear is divorced from any concrete and true immediate danger. It comes in many forms: unease, worry, anxiety, nervousness, tension,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-psychological-condition-of-fear-is-divorced-from-any-concrete-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Back to the bad. Makes them mad. Say I won't . But you'll see it when I do. Don't have a clue? Well, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/back-to-the-bad-makes-them-mad-say-i-won-t-but-you-ll-see-it-when-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is a certain freedom in giving up all hope. One is no longer bound by the cords of dread or fear; you simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-caine/there-is-a-certain-freedom-in-giving-up-all-hope-one-is-no-longer/) [Rachel Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-caine/) > [Why exactly are we so frightened of death that we avoid looking at it altogether? Somewhere, deep down, we know we cannot avoid facing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sogyal-rinpoche/why-exactly-are-we-so-frightened-of-death-that-we-avoid-looking-at-it/) [Sogyal Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sogyal-rinpoche/) > [Many live in dread of what is coming. Why should we? The unknown puts adventure into life. ... The unexpected around the corner gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-stanley-jones/many-live-in-dread-of-what-is-coming-why-should-we-the-unknown-puts/) [E. Stanley Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-stanley-jones/) > [When we think of globalization we are thinking in part of structures and institutions that have been developed over time and that have allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/when-we-think-of-globalization-we-are-thinking-in-part-of-structures/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Communism worked honestly by officials devoid of human frailties and devoted to nothing but the good of its slaves, would have certain manifest material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/communism-worked-honestly-by-officials-devoid-of-human-frailties-and/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) Browse all 813 Dread quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When the imagination is continually led to the brink of vice by a system of terror and denunciations, people fling themselves over the precipice from the mere dread of falling.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Hazlitt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/when-the-imagination-is-continually-led-to-the-brink-of-vice-by-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dread" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/when-the-imagination-is-continually-led-to-the-brink-of-vice-by-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/william-hazlitt-326_dread_when-the-imagination-is-continually-led_2590543.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/william-hazlitt-326_dread_when-the-imagination-is-continually-led_2590543.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/william-hazlitt-326_dread_when-the-imagination-is-continually-led_2590543.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When the imagination is continually led to the brink of vice by a system of terror and denunciations, people…” — William Hazlitt", "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": "William Hazlitt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When the imagination is continually led...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/when-the-imagination-is-continually-led-to-the-brink-of-vice-by-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/when-the-imagination-is-continually-led-to-the-brink-of-vice-by-a/#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 } } ] } ```