On the record
They fear the novelty and they seek to suppress it, in the belief that a bold front and an adequate severity will stem the tide of critical scepticism.
Said by
Harold J. Laski
Source
gutenberg.orgHarold J. Laski: “They fear the novelty and they seek to suppress it, in the belief that a bold front and an adequate severity will stem…”
Editor's note · Context
He critiques the government's attempts to suppress new ideas out of fear.
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More from Harold J. Laski
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.
We grant it in religion to deny it in politics; we grant it in politics, to deny it in economic matters.
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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