“A book which, above all others in the world, should be forbidden, is a catalogue of forbidden books.”

— Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

As quoted in A Dictionary of Scientific Quotations (1991) edited by Alan Lindsay Mackay, p. 153

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Georg Christoph Lichtenberg 137

German scientist, satirist 1742–1799

Craig Nelson (1971) Scottish footballer

Source: Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations

“Parents should leave books lying around marked "forbidden" if they want their children to read.”

Doris Lessing (1919–2013) British novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer and short story writer

Interview with Amanda Craig, "Grand dame of letters who's not going quietly," The Times, London (23 November 2003) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14449-1132868_3,00.html

“It took the Church until 1832 to remove Galileo's work from its list of books which Catholics were forbidden to read at the risk of dire punishment of their immortal souls.”

Carl Sagan book Pale Blue Dot

Source: Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994), p. 43

“Educational television should be absolutely forbidden. It can only lead to unreasonable expectations and eventual disappointment when your child discovers that the letters of the alphabet do not leap up out of books and dance around the room with royal-blue chickens.”

Fran Lebowitz book Social Studies

"Parental Guidance".
Social Studies (1981)

“Everywhere in the world, young men and women like what is forbidden.”

Massimo Introvigne (1955) Italian philosopher

"The Xinjiang Class: How the CCP Tries to “Convert” the Uyghurs—and Fails" https://bitterwinter.org/the-xinjiang-class-how-the-ccp-tries-to-convert-the-uyghurs-and-fails/

“Not for naught had he gained access into darksome cults, had harkened to the grisly whispers of the votaries of Skelos under midnight trees, and read the forbidden iron-bound books of Vathelos the Blind.”

Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) American author

"Black Colossus" (1933)

“The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews.”

Eric Hoffer (1898–1983) American philosopher

Israel's Peculiar Position (1968)
Context: The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions of people and there is no refugee problem. Russia did it, Poland and Czechoslovakia did it, Turkey threw out a million Greeks, and Algeria a million Frenchman. Indonesia threw out heaven knows how many Chinese — and no one says a word about refugees.
But in the case of Israel the displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees. Everyone insists that Israel must take back every single Arab.
Arnold J. Toynbee calls the displacement of the Arabs an atrocity greater than any committed by the Nazis. Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms. But when Israel is victorious it must sue for peace.