“It is great men, potential saints, not little men, who become merciless fanatics. Those who are readiest to die for a cause may easily become those who are readiest to kill for it. One sees the same principle at work in a field (comparatively) so unimportant as literary criticism; the most brutal work, the most rankling hatred of all other critics and of nearly all authors, may come from the most honest and disinterested critic, the man who cares most passionately and selflessly about literature. The higher the stakes, the greater the temptation to lose your temper over the game…Of all bad men religious bad men are the worst. Of all created beings the wickedest is one who originally stood in the immediate presence of God.” – C.S. Lewis, “The Cursings” in Reflections on the Psalms.
C.S. Lewis on Fantatics and Terrorism and Critics:
