Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
-- Voltaire
But usually causality doesn't run in that direction. Those who already wish to commit atrocities will go out of their way to seek absurd beliefs.
Voltaire, being an ideas person, overestimates the impact of ideas.
(Last month's started a little late, I thought I'd bring it back to its original schedule.)
A monthly thread for posting any interesting rationality-related quotes you've seen recently on the Internet, or had stored in your quotesfile for ages.