“I well knew that to propose something which would be called extreme, was the true way not to impede but to facilitate a more moderate experiment.”

Source: Autobiography (1873), Ch. 7: General View of the Remainder of My Life (p. 206)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I well knew that to propose something which would be called extreme, was the true way not to impede but to facilitate a…" by John Stuart Mill?

John Stuart Mill179

British philosopher and political economist 1806–1873

Related quotes

“What I would like to show is that there is a vital dimension of their writing, which I call performative reflexivity, which if ignored or misunderstood will impede an adequate response to it.”

David Wood (1946) British philosopher, born 1946

Source: Philosophy At The Limit (1990), Chapter 8, Performative Reflexivity, p. 134

“Subjugation is something which is an impedance on the ascent of man.”

Kamal Haasan (1954) Indian actor

In an interview with Ms. Barkha Dutt #Townhall with Kamal Haasan, about atheism and rationalism.

“All Taliban are moderate. There are two things: extremism ["ifraat", or doing something to excess] and conservatism ["tafreet", or doing something insufficiently]. So in that sense, we are all moderates - taking the middle path.”

Mohammed Omar (1959–2013) Founder and former leader of the Taliban

Interview with Mullah Omar - transcript http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1657368.stm, BBC News, 15 November 2001. <br class="br">Moderation

“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!”

Barry Goldwater (1909–1998) American politician

Acceptance Speech as the 1964 Republican Presidential candidate. Variants and derivatives of this that are often quoted include:
Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Tolerance in the face of tyranny is no virtue.
Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
Moderation in the protection of liberty is no virtue; extremism in the defense of freedom is no vice.

“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

Karl Hess (1923–1994) American journalist

Barry Goldwater's speech http://www.c-span.org/video/?4018-1/goldwater-1964-acceptance-speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination, written by Karl Hess, delivered 16 July 1964, San Francisco.

“If I knew of something that could serve my nation but would ruin another, I would not propose it to my prince, for I am first a man and only then a Frenchman, because I am necessarily a man, and only accidentally am I French.”

Montesquieu (1689–1755) French social commentator and political thinker

Si je savais une chose utile à ma nation qui fût ruineuse à une autre, je ne la proposerais pas à mon prince, parce que je suis homme avant d’être Français, parce que je suis nécessairement homme, et que je ne suis Français que par hasard
I.
Pensées et Fragments Inédits de Montesquieu (1899)

“Balance, that's the secret. Moderate extremism.”

Edward Abbey book Desert Solitaire

"Bedrock and Paradox", p. 233
Desert Solitaire (1968)

“It is the character of the British people, or at least of the higher and middle classes who pass muster for the British people, that to induce them to approve of any change, it is necessary that they should look upon it as a middle course: they think every proposal extreme and violent unless they hear of some other proposal going still farther, upon which their antipathy to extreme views may discharge itself. So it proved in the present instance; my proposal was condemned, but any scheme of Irish Land reform, short of mine, came to be thought moderate by comparison.”

John Stuart Mill book Autobiography

Source: Autobiography (1873)
Source: https://archive.org/details/autobiography01mill/page/294/mode/1up pp. 294-295