On the record
Liberty means self-government, and self-government means the right of every man to be his own legislator.
Said by
Harold J. Laski
Source
gutenberg.orgHarold J. Laski: “Liberty means self-government, and self-government means the right of every man to be his own legislator.”
Editor's note · Context
Laski emphasizes the importance of individual autonomy in governance.
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More from Harold J. Laski
The only way to deal with novelty is to understand it, and the only way to deal with grievance is to seek a remedy for the complaint it embodies.
The intolerance may be Catholic, when it insists that a unity of outlook is essential for the preservation of society; or it may be Protestant when, as with Calvin and the Socinians, it holds that the blasphemous nature of the belief…
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.
To deny novelty or grievance a right of expression is a certain, if, indeed, an ultimate, validation of the truth they contain.
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