The doctrine which, from the very first origin of religious dissensions, has been held by bigots of all sects, when condensed into a few words and stripped of rhetorical disguise, is simply this: — I am in the right, and you are in the wrong. When you are the stronger, you ought to tolerate me, for it is your duty to tolerate truth; but when I am the stronger, I shall persecute you, for it is my duty to persecute error.

Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) English writer and politician
“Sir James Mackintosh’s History of the Revolution,” Edinburgh Review (Jul 1835)
    (Source)

Review of James Mackintosh, History of the Revolution in England, in 1638 (1834).

 
Added on 21-Jan-15 | Last updated 16-Jan-20
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Macaulay, Thomas Babington

Thoughts? Comments? Corrections? Feedback?