Fear of thought

Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth--more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible; thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages....

Bertrand Russell 1872-1970, Why Men Fight: A Method of Abolishing the International Duel (1917)