No one has the right to spend their life without being offended
2010 April 12
Philip Pullman on his latest book: The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ causing offence:
“No one has the right to live without being shocked.
No one has the right to spend their lives without being offended.
Nobody has to read this book. Nobody has to pick it up. Nobody has to open it. If they have to open it and read it, they don’t have to like it. And if you read it and dislike it, you don’t have to remain silent about it. You can write to me, you can write to the publisher, you can write to the papers, you can write your own book, you can do all those things but there your rights stop.
No one has the right to stop the writing of this book. No one has the right to stop it being published, sold or bought or read.”
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so true. so true. Salman Rushdie said something to that effect too, a while ago. The simplest way to not let a book offend you is to shut it.
Such a simple thing, the right to speech. But so many don’t get it, do they?
The thing is, those who get easily offended always feel they have a right to speech… just them and possibly those who think like them, but nobody else.
true
very true. i just picked up a copy but havent had the chance to read it. you dont like it, dont read it. simple.
Absolutely! I wish this simple statement was inscribed in huge letters, in all languages, all across the world.