"What is tolerance nowadays? Is it a moral virtue in the possessor, or is it a recognition of a necessity arising from an equilibrium of parties? It often seems to me that we speak as if it was the first, when actually it is the second. My Liberalism admits to every man the right to his own opinion, and imposes on me the duty of teaching him what is best; but I am by no means sure that that is the genuine conviction of all my Liberal friends. French Liberalism does not convince me that it is universal."
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Letter to Lord Acton (9 April 1887), quoted in Louise Creighton, Life and Letters of Mandell Creighton, Volume 1 (1904), p. 374
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Mandell Creighton
Mandell Creighton (5 July 1843 – 14 January 1901) was an English historian and a prelate of the Church of England.
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