No lesson seems to be so deeply inculcated by the experience of life as that you should never trust experts. If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome: if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent: if you believe the soldiers, nothing is safe. They all require their strong wine diluted by a very large admixture of insipid common sense.
Robert Cecil, Lord Salisbury (1830-1903) British politician [Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury]
Letter to Lord Lytton (15 Jun 1877)
Quotations by:
Salisbury, Robert Cecil (Lord)
On general grounds I object to Parliament trying to regulate private morality in matters which only affects the person who commits the offence.
Robert Cecil, Lord Salisbury (1830-1903) British politician [Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury]
Letter to Sir Henry Peek (1888)
By a free country, I mean a country where people are allowed, so long as they do not hurt their neighbours, to do as they like. I do not mean a country where six men may make five men do exactly as they like.
Robert Cecil, Lord Salisbury (1830-1903) British politician [Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury]
Speech to the Kingston and District Working Men’s Conservative Association (Jun 1883)