How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Do you realize, your highness, that an attack on the Foundation is nothing short of sacrilege of the highest order?"
Wienis was groping visibly for self-control. "Give me none of that, Hardin. Save it for the mob."
"My dear Wienis, whoever [sic] do you think I am saving it for?" (III.6.61-63)
Here, Asimov really hits close to Marx. Marx is famous for saying, "Religion is the opiate [i.e., drug] of the masses." Hmmm, kind of sounds like Hardin's been reading up on his German economists.
Quote #8
"[…] the kings of the Four Kingdoms accepted the religion of science that made them divine; and that same religion of science was their bridle and saddle, for it placed the life blood of nuclear power in the hands of the priesthood—who took their orders from [the Foundation] […]." (III.8.14)
The Four Kings thought that religion was giving them what they wanted, but in reality, religion was tying them down to the Foundation. Here, the Four Kings find themselves in the same situation that the Board of Trustees did in at the end of "The Encyclopedists." How about that for irony?
Quote #9
"It's a form of ancestor worship. Their traditions tell of an evil past from which they were saved by the simple and virtuous heroes of the past generations. [...] Advanced science and nuclear power in particular became identified with the old imperial regime they remember with horror." (IV.3.27)
Religion was a powerful political weapon for the Foundation. The one thing it couldn't stand up against? Another religion. The two just butt heads in Asimov's universe.