“Those who want to burn books are either afraid of the ideas contained within the covers or they haven't the courage to stand up for the views which they themselves profess to hold.”
Speech, Saskatchewan Legislature, February 17, 1954.
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Tommy Douglas 26
Scottish-born Canadian politician 1904–1986Related quotes
2010s, I'd like to see MORE football player protests — NOT less (27 September 2017)
Context: We should be committed to ending this spate of gun violence and criminality. We should stop allowing the progressive, socialist left to manipulate us for the sake of their insidious ideological agenda. The problem is simple — doing that takes courage, and the left tends to define courage with examples such as Bradley Manning or Bowe Bergdahl. Real courage, however, is shown by those who don’t merely follow the trend or status quo, but who stand up for that which is right and truly just — and don’t kneel.
Puzzles of the Black Widowers (1990), pp. 74-75
General sources
“The best books are those, which those who read them believe they themselves could have written.”
The Art of Persuasion
Language Education in a Knowledge Context (1980)
Context: Of writing that is filled with mechanical and grammatical error, as compared with writing that conforms to the rules of standard edited English. Surely, we do not want to say that there is a necessary correlation between mechanical and editorial accuracy and intellectual substance. There are many books that are mechanically faultless but which contain untrue, unclear, or even nonsensical ideas. Carefully edited writing tells us, not that the writer speaks truly, but that he or she grasps... the manner in which knowledge is usually expressed. The most devastating argument against a paper that is marred by grammatical and rhetorical error is that the writer does not understand the subject.
“People want to stand for something, which means opposing those who stand for something else.”
How to Understand Politics: What the Humanities Can Say to Science (2007)
Context: People want to stand for something, which means opposing those who stand for something else. In the course of opposing they will often resort to insults and name-calling, which are normal in politics though never in your interest. The demand for more civility in politics today should be directed toward improving the quality of our insults, seeking civility in wit rather than blandness.
Interview by Nicki Gostin, Newsweek, Updated: 10:46 a.m. ET March 11, 2005
