Quote
By John Milton
And yet on the other hand, unlesse warinesse be us'd, as good almost kill a Man as kill a good Book; who kills a Man kills a reasonable creature, Gods Image; but hee who destroyes a good Booke, kills reason it selfe, kills the Image of God, as it were in the eye.
- Source
- Areopagitica: A Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing, to the Parlament of England, 1644
- Read at
- John Milton Reading Room, ed. Thomas H. Luxon, Dartmouth College (text with 1644 spelling)
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About this quote
From Milton's pamphlet Areopagitica (1644), addressed to the English Parliament against the licensing of books before printing. The full sentence is given because it opens with a condition ("unlesse warinesse be us'd"). The popular version, "He who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, but he who destroys a good book kills reason itself", is a modernised and shortened rewording.