On the record
That it was wrong was less important than that the attempt should have been made.
Said by
Harold J. Laski
Source
gutenberg.orgHarold J. Laski: “That it was wrong was less important than that the attempt should have been made.”
Editor's note · Context
Laski suggests that the significance of an idea lies in the attempt to explore it, regardless of its correctness.
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More from Harold J. Laski
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.
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.
It has been the historic character of persecution always to degrade the persecutor and to strengthen the persecuted by drawing attention to their claims.
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.
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