IT is as bad for a man to think that he can know nothing as to think he knows all. There are things which it is given to all possessing reason to know, if they will but use that reason. And some things it may be there are, that — as was said by one whom the learning of the time sneered at, and the high priests persecuted, and polite society, speaking through the voice of those who knew not what they did, crucified — are hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed unto babes. — A Perplexed Philosopher (Conclusion)
THAT thought on social questions is so confused and
perplexed, that the aspirations of great bodies of men,
deeply though vaguely conscious of injustice, are in all
civilized countries being diverted to futile and dangerous
remedies, is largely due to the fact that those who assume
and are credited with superior knowledge of social and
economic laws have devoted their powers, not to showing
where the injustice lies but to hiding it; not to clearing
common thought but to confusing it. — A Perplexed Philosopher (Conclusion)
POLITICAL economy is the simplest of the sciences. It is but the intellectual recognition, as related to social life, of laws which in their moral aspect men instinctively recognize, and which are embodied in the simple teachings of him whom the common people heard gladly. But, like Christianity, political economy has been warped by institutions which, denying the equality and brotherhood of man, have enlisted authority, silenced objection, and ingrained themselves in custom and habit of thought. — Protection or Free Trade, Chapter 1
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