I well knew that to propose something which would be called extreme, was the true way not to impede but to facilitate a more moderate experiment.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Proposing extreme ideas helps facilitate more moderate experiments by shifting the Over.
- In plain terms
- Suggesting extreme ideas makes moderate ones seem acceptable.
- What can you take from it?
- Use radical proposals to advance moderate change.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Does extremism help moderation?
- How to shift opinions?
Another view
It may encourage polarization rather than genuine understanding.
More from John Stuart Mill
That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in the next.
Permalink to quote #72 The practical reformer has continually to demand that changes be made in things which are supported by powerful and widely-spread feelings, or to question the …
Permalink to quote #70 A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither.
Permalink to quote #73
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