"The parochial snobbery of these people was partly responsible for their failure to convert the Indians. Probably they also preferred to take land from heathens rather than from fellow Christians. At any rate, very few Indians were converted, and the Salem folk believed that the virgin forest was the Devil's last preserve, his home base and the citadel of his final stand. To the best of their knowledge the American forest was the last place on earth that was not paying homage to God."

3 likes

Source: Arthur Miller (2015). “The Crucible”, p.7, Bloomsbury Publishing

About the author

Arthur Miller

Playwright, Essayist

Arthur Miller was an influential American playwright known for works like 'Death of a Salesman' that explore themes of truth and human struggle.

All quotes by Arthur Miller →

Same author

More quotes by Arthur Miller

See all →
Arthur Miller Playwright, Essayist

"If a person measures his spiritual fulfillment in terms of cosmic visions, surpassing peace of mind, or ecstasy, then he is not likely to know much spiritual fulfillment. If, however, he measures it in terms of enjoying a sunrise, being warmed by a child's smile, or being able to help someone have a better day, then he is likely to know much spiritual fulfillment."

Read quote
Arthur Miller Playwright, Essayist

"The problem was to sustain at any cost the feeling you had in the theater that you were watching a real person, yes, but an intense condensation of his experience, not simply a realistic series of episodes."

Read quote
Arthur Miller Playwright, Essayist

"I’m a writer, and everything I write is both a confession and a struggle to understand things about myself and this world in which I live. This is what everyone’s work should be-whether you dance or paint or sing. It is a confession, a baring of your soul, your faults, those things you simply cannot or will not understand or accept. You stumble forward, confused, and you share. If you’re lucky, you learn something."

Read quote
Arthur Miller Playwright, Essayist

"We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!"

Read quote