One of the curious things about censorship is that no one seems to believe in it for himself. We want censorship to protect someone else— the young, the unstable, the suggestible, the stupid. I have never heard of anyone who wanted a film or speaker banned because otherwise he himself might be harmed.
Interpretation
Censorship is often sought to protect others, but not for oneself.
This quote highlights the irony of censorship, suggesting that people typically advocate for restricting information or expression to safeguard others rather than out of self-interest. It questions the motivations behind censorship and implies that individuals rarely feel the need to censor content for their own protection, emphasizing a paradox in the way society approaches freedom of speech and protection from harmful ideas.
In practice
During a debate on freedom of speech, one could use this quote to illustrate the complexities of censorship.
No one can say just how long a message should be, but you rarely hear complaints about a speech being too short. The amateur worries about what he is going to put in his speech or article. The expert worries about what he should take out.
Philosophy is, in the last instance, class struggle in the field of theory.
It was among farmers and potato diggers and old men in workhouses and beggars at my own door that I found what was beyond these and yet farther beyond that drawingroom poet of my childhood in the expression of love, and grief, and the pain of parting, that are the disclosure of the individual soul.
If you're going to do something that looks evil, don't smear it with icing and pretend it's good; just bloody well do it and keep your eyes peeled.
Monsters,' her dad said, a tear tracing his cheek. 'I live in a world of monsters.
Everything in the world is beautiful, but Man only recognizes beauty if he sees it either seldom or from afar. Listen, today we are gods! Our blue shadows are enormous! We move in a gigantic, joyful world!
The individual cannot bargain with the State. The State recognizes no coinage but power: and it issues the coins itself.
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