On the record
Man is for him so much the creature of prejudice, so much a mosaic of ancestral tradition, that the chance of novel thought finding a peaceful place among his institutions is always small.
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Harold J. Laski
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gutenberg.orgHarold J. Laski: “Man is for him so much the creature of prejudice, so much a mosaic of ancestral tradition, that the chance of novel…”
Editor's note · Context
Laski discusses the impact of prejudice and tradition on human thought and its acceptance of new ideas.
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To deny novelty or grievance a right of expression is a certain, if, indeed, an ultimate, validation of the truth they contain.
He is able, accordingly, to indulge in the twofold luxury not only of preserving his own authority, but also of assisting the persons attacked to enter, if they so choose, the way of truth.
Ultimately, that denial is always made upon the same ground: it is insisted that the doctrines or practices attacked are subversive of the civil order.
The essence of the persecuting position is always that the persecutor has hold of truth and that he would betray its service by allowing it to be questioned.
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