"There is hardly an example of a mass movement achieving vast proportions and a durable organization solely by persuasion. ...It was the temporal sword that made Christianity a world religion. Conquest and conversion went hand in hand... Where Christianity failed to gain or retain the backing of state power, it achieved neither a wide nor a permanent hold. ..."The most flourishing periods for Mohammedanism have been at the times of its greatest political ascendency..." The Reformation made headway only when it gained the backing of the ruling prince or the local government. In the case of the French Revolution, "It was the armies of the Revolution, not its ideas, that penetrated throughout the whole of Europe." ...The threat of communism at present does not come from the forcefulness of its preaching but from the fact that it is backed by one of the mightiest armies on earth."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Eric Hoffer, The True Beliver (1951) Ch.14 Unifying Agents, §86. Quote on Mohammedanism from Charles Reginald Haines, Islam as a Missionary Religion (1889)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Persuasion
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Persuasion
32 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Persuasion →
Related Quotes
"We always have hoped that American diplomacy deploys itself in dialogue and persuasion rather than by ultimatums. Tha…"
"Even if you persuade me, you won’t persuade me."
"Variant:You won't persuade [peiseis] me even if you convince [peisēs] me."
"In making a speech one must study three points: first, the means of producing persuasion; second, the language; third…"
"This progress among the people through Dharma has been done by two means, by Dharma regulations and by persuasion. Of…"
"Persuasion of others is to show that oneself is convinced."
"If I was wrong in yielding to persuasion once, remember that it was to persuasion exerted on the side of safety, not …"
"To yield readily--easily--to the persuasion of a friend is no merit.... To yield without conviction is no compliment …"
"Whatever your religious persuasion, if you believe that that the universe is governed by benign forces, at some point…"
"Maybe tomorrow when He looks down Every green field and every town All of his children, every nation There'll be peac…"