The Monsters are Due on Maple Street

“The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own for the children, and the children yet unborn.”

From my understandings, Sterling is trying to say that these kind of crazy situations don't always start from crime, weapons, etc. It could simply start from a wrong a gesture, or a misunderstood word. Although weapons and all those negative things can cause destruction, it is the thoughts and actions of human beings that are the catalyst that makes these things become a bad thing. Without "prejudices and suspicions" and anything else in that matter, everything else would be harmless. Anything could be harmful or harmless, it is up to us to control it based on our actions. For example, the Salem Witch Trial is a good example for this specific quote. It was a situation that became out of control because of jealousy and lust that was felt by a naive girl, Abigail. If it wasn't for her negative feelings, her actions would not have been performed and people would not have gotten hurt. Therefore, I do agree with Sterling because I am a big believer of the phrase "think before you act", which pretty much sums up this whole quote.