| |
299. Character assassination
I censured the coarse invectives which were become fashionable in
the House of Commons, and said that if members of parliament must
attack each other personally in the heat of debate, it should be
done more genteely. Johnson: "No, Sir, that would be
much worse. Abuse is not so dangerous when there is no vehicle
of wit or delicacy, no subtle conveyance. The difference between
coarse and refined abuse is as the difference between being
bruised by a club, and wounded by a poisoned arrow."
Boswell: Life
Link
|
|
