To refuse a hearing to an opinion, because they are sure that it is false, is to assume that their certainty is the same thing as absolute certainty. All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility.
- John Stuart Mill
More Quotes By John Stuart Mill
If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that... The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race;... We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and... the only way in which a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of a... Protection, therefore, against the tyranny of the magistrate is not enough; there needs protection against the tyranny of... In this age, the mere example of non-conformity, the mere refusal to bend the knee to custom, is... He who knows only his own side of the case (argument) knows little of that. His reasons may... How can great minds be produced in a country where the test of great minds is agreeing in... Originality is the one thing which unoriginal minds cannot feel the use of.
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral... A state which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile instruments in its hands... It is a bitter thought, how different a thing the Christianity of the world might have been, if... The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against... Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people... The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way,...
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