“The doctrine of toleration requires a positive as well as a negative statement. It is not only wrong to burn a man on account of his creed, but it is right to encourage the open avowal and defence of every opinion sincerely maintained. Every man who says frankly and fully what he thinks is so far doing a public service. We should be grateful to him for attacking most unsparingly our most cherished opinions.”

— Leslie Stephen

The Nineteenth Century, vol. 13 (1883) p. 665

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Leslie Stephen 11

British author, literary critic, and first editor of the Di… 1832–1904

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Laura Riding and Harry Kemp from The Left Heresy in Literature and Life (London: Methuen, 1939)

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