“The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.”
Wole Soyinka (1934) Nigerian writer
Source: The strong man syndrome https://www.thecable.ng/wole-soyinka-at-86/amp
"On Bright Old Things — and Other Things" in Sidelights on New London and Newer New York : And Other Essays (1932)
“The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.”
Wole Soyinka (1934) Nigerian writer
Source: The strong man syndrome https://www.thecable.ng/wole-soyinka-at-86/amp
Gerald R. Salancik (1943–1996) American organizational theorist
Source: The External Control of Organizations, 1978, p. 46
Jeffrey Pfeffer (1946) American academic
Source: The External Control of Organizations, 1978, p. 46
Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) Catholic bishop and television presenter
Source: Peace of Soul (1949), Ch. 5, p. 85
Hu Yaobang (1915–1989) former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
In 1980, during his inspection tour in Tibet, as quoted in Southern Mongolia: Self-Determination Activist Tortured in Prison and Kept Under House Arrest https://unpo.org/article/19652?id=19652
Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Talk at an Enlarged Central Work Conference (30 January 1962)
1960s
Original: (zh-CN) 批评和自我批评是一种方法,是解决人民内部矛盾的方法,而且是唯一的方法。
“Human intellect is natures attempt at self criticism”
Muhammad Iqbál (1877–1938) Urdu poet and leader of the Pakistan Movement
stray reflections[http:www.allamaiqbal.com.htm]
Karl Popper (1902–1994) Austrian-British philosopher of science
"On Freedom" in All Life is Problem Solving (1999)
Context: When I speak of reason or rationalism, all I mean is the conviction that we can learn through criticism of our mistakes and errors, especially through criticism by others, and eventually also through self-criticism. A rationalist is simply someone for whom it is more important to learn than to be proved right; someone who is willing to learn from others — not by simply taking over another's opinions, but by gladly allowing others to criticize his ideas and by gladly criticizing the ideas of others. The emphasis here is on the idea of criticism or, to be more precise, critical discussion. The genuine rationalist does not think that he or anyone else is in possession of the truth; nor does he think that mere criticism as such helps us achieve new ideas. But he does think that, in the sphere of ideas, only critical discussion can help us sort the wheat from the chaff. He is well aware that acceptance or rejection of an idea is never a purely rational matter; but he thinks that only critical discussion can give us the maturity to see an idea from more and more sides and to make a correct judgement of it.
“One of the sure signs of maturity is the ability to rise to the point of self criticism.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement
1960s, The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousnes (1960)