drossiest

“And again, if it be true that a wise man, like a good refiner, can gather gold out of the drossiest volume, and that a fool will be a fool with the best book, yea or without book; there is no reason that we should deprive a wise man of any advantage to his wisdom, while we seek to restrain from a fool, that which being restrained will be no hindrance to his folly.”

Areopagitica

“Coupled with their strong religious bias, these attractive qualities will in time lift them to the highest possible grade in our dwarfed civilization, where the fittest does not always survive; the drossiest, flimsiest, most selfish and superficial often occupying the high places, social and political.”

Simon & Schuster: Black and White

“And again if it be true, that a wise man like a good refiner can gather gold out of the drossiest volume, and that a fool will be a fool with the best book, yea or without book, there is no reason that we should deprive a wise man of any advantage to his wisdom, while we seek to restrain from a fool that which being restrained will be no hindrance to his folly.”

Areopagitica: A Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing: Paras 1-19

“And again if it be true that a wise man, like a good refiner, can gather gold out of the drossiest volume, and that a fool will be a fool with the best book—yea, or without book; there is no reason that we should deprive a wise man of any advantage to his wisdom, while we seek to restrain from a fool, that which being restrained will be no hindrance to his folly.”

Plea for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing

“As Milton argued in his reflection on why the government shouldn’t control or license those who write – the wise person can find gold in the “drossiest of volumes”, while the fool will find folly with the best of writings.”

NSFW: After Fort Hood, another example of how ‘citizen journalists’ can’t handle the truth