About this quote

A free system shows its worth not when everyone agrees but in how carefully it shields the lone holdout's right to think and act differently. Protecting the opinion you can't stand is the real work; comfort with the majority proves nothing at all.

When to use it

• A committee chair who makes sure the one dissenting member gets full time to argue her case.
• Parents who let a teenager hold political views opposite their own and debate them over dinner.
• A forum that defends an unpopular poster's right to speak as long as no one is threatened.