"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"
Gaston: Le Fou, I'm afraid I've been thinking.
Le Fou: A dangerous pasttime...
Gaston: I know!
Le Fou: A dangerous pasttime...
Gaston: I know!
"I don't want to know what it's about," Mr. Wormwood barked. "I'm fed up with your reading anyway. Go and find yourself something useful to do."
With frightening suddenness he now began ripping pages out of the book in handfuls and throwing them in the waste paper basket.
Matilda froze in horror. The father kept going. There seemed little doubt that the man felt some kind of jealousy. How dare she, he seemed to be saying with each rip of a page, how dare she enjoy reading books when he couldn’t? How dare she?
With frightening suddenness he now began ripping pages out of the book in handfuls and throwing them in the waste paper basket.
Matilda froze in horror. The father kept going. There seemed little doubt that the man felt some kind of jealousy. How dare she, he seemed to be saying with each rip of a page, how dare she enjoy reading books when he couldn’t? How dare she?
— Matilda
For twenty years we must stop this brain from functioning.
— Fascist Prosecutor at the trial of Italian philosopher, Antonio Gramscinote
In Soviet Russia, cops always patrol in threes: One who knows how to read, one who knows how to write, and the third to keep an eye on these two dangerous intellectuals.
— Russian joke
Speaking of villains, make sure all of the smart people are evil. We want to teach future generations the dangers of science, intellectualism, and free thought. We don't want our dystopian novel to actually be about thinking for yourself after all. That would be double plus ungood.
Fucking magnets, how do they work?
And I don't wanna talk to a scientist
Y'all motherfuckers lying and getting me pissed
And I don't wanna talk to a scientist
Y'all motherfuckers lying and getting me pissed
— Insane Clown Posse, "Miracles"
Oh, look, what clever children
See them study, watch them learn
How I hate those goody-goodies
How they make my stomach turn
See them study, watch them learn
How I hate those goody-goodies
How they make my stomach turn
One of these days, thought Winston with sudden deep conviction, Syme will be vaporized. He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly. The Party does not like such people. One day he will disappear. It is written in his face.
Bob: Mr. Rzykruski knew a lot.
Gym Teacher: Well, sometimes knowing too much is the problem.
Gym Teacher: Well, sometimes knowing too much is the problem.
"We're Christians! We're not supposed to think!"
—Fanny Wype, Nudist Colony of the Dead
"College is for rich kids and people with brains; you wouldn't fit in."
—Cheryl Roberts, Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker
"Books... Books! That's what started the apocalypse!"
