"Protection, therefore, against the tyranny of the magistrate is not enough: there needs protection also against the tyranny of the prevailing opinion and feeling; against the tendency of society to impose, by other means than civil penalties, its own ideas and practices as rules of conduct on those who dissent from them; to fetter the development, and, if possible, prevent the formation, of any individuality not in harmony with its ways, and compel all characters to fashion themselves upon the model of its own. There is a limit to the legitimate interference of collective opinion with individual independence: and to find that limit, and maintain it against encroachment, is as indispensable to a good condition of human affairs, as protection against political despotism."
Redescubro On Liberty com o mesmo prazer, o mesmo gozo com que há pouco menos de quarenta anos o descobri.
Nunca mais o reli do princípio ao fim, como faço agora. Umas citações aqui e ali, umas páginas se por acaso o livro me aparecia à frente.
Há verdades muito feias; também as há lindas. Mas todas são perenes.
«On n'écrit pas parce qu'on a quelque chose à dire
mais parce qu'on a envie de dire quelque chose.»
(E. M. Cioran)
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