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Fear, prejudice, malice, and the love of approbation bribe a thousand men where gold bribes one.
Robert Green Ingersoll
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote suggests that fear and social approval can influence people more powerfully than money.

In this quote, Robert Green Ingersoll highlights the powerful forces of fear, prejudice, and the desire for approval that can manipulate human behavior, suggesting that these emotional and psychological influences can sway people's decisions and actions far more often than financial temptation. He implies that the desire to conform and seek acceptance can lead to moral compromises and actions that might not align with one's true self.

Themes

FearPrejudiceMaliceLoveApprobationInfluenceHuman Behavior

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about overcoming fear and social anxiety.

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I will follow my logic, no matter where it goes, after it has consulted with my heart. If you ever come to a conclusion without calling the heart in, you will come to a bad conclusion.
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If the guardians of society, the protectors of 'young persons,' could have had their way, we should have known nothing of Byron or Shelley. The voices that thrill the world would now be silent.
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The religion that has to be supported by law is without value, not only, but a fraud and a curse. The religious argument that has to be supported by a musket is hardly worth making.
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There is no slavery but ignorance.
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In all ages the people have honored those who dishonored them. They have worshiped their destroyers; they have canonized the most gigantic liars, and buried the great thieves in marble and gold. Under the loftiest monuments sleeps the dust of murder.
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I believe that there is something far nobler than loyalty to any particular man. Loyalty to the truth as we perceive it - loyalty to our duty as we know it - loyalty to the ideals of our brain and heart - is, to my mind, far greater and far nobler than loyalty to the life of any particular man or God. . . .
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Quote by Robert Green Ingersoll | QuoteProject