Blaise Pascal
In an age of exhibitionism, writes Dalrymple,
a soft head often passes for a good heart.
He says that fuzzy thought, or the substitution of supposedly generous ideas for real reflection,
is to be combatted not by equal and opposite sloganeering, but by rational argument. It is not only liberty the preservation of which imposes the duty of eternal vigilance: the preservation of reason imposes it as well.
