On the record
Even granting that it were so, it is a great gain to society to have two idols: in the competition of idolatries the true worship gets a chance.
Said by
Walter Bagehot
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gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “Even granting that it were so, it is a great gain to society to have two idols: in the competition of idolatries the…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot posits that having multiple societal idols allows for a competition that can lead to a more genuine appreciation of true value.
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More from Walter Bagehot
At last it strikes you that they grew up, house by house, on the devious tracks of the old green lanes; and if you follow on to the existing fields, you may often find the change half complete.
But it is natural also that persons used to analyse political institutions should look at these anomalies with a little tenderness and a little interest.
Subject to this saving remark, however, I not only admit, but maintain, that our Constitution is full of curious oddities, which are impeding and mischievous, and ought to be struck out.
These anomalies, in a hundred instances, mark the old boundaries of a constitutional struggle.
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