The Brilliance of Reason

If a child seemed unusually different at a Muggle school, the other children would not worship him; they would treat him as a freak. This was one of the Muggles' "herd instincts."

Lily stressed that she had stopped believing in Santa Claus back in primary school. If everyone else had stopped believing, anyone who still believed in Santa Claus would be mocked by their classmates.

When everyone echoed one another, it was not easy to keep a clear head. In that photograph of a warship setting sail, one soldier had not saluted. He was persecuted, and the girl he loved died in a concentration camp.

The clock on St. Mark's Campanile had its twelve zodiac signs running counterclockwise. When others did not take faith seriously, they believed in God; when others believed in God, they felt trade and art were more important.

The price of freedom was caution. Being able to voice one's opinions without fear was certainly a kind of courage, and it ensured that different voices could be heard on campus. But those opinions had to be expressed only after proper consideration.

That Dumbledore's Army had been trouble the students brought upon the headmaster without thinking things through. "Dumbledore's Army" became a tool for the Ministry of Magic to frame Albus Dumbledore.

Copernicus and Galileo had both taught at the University of Padua. Academic persecution was even more insidious.

Goethe had once said: Venice could not be seen with the eyes; it had to be seen with the heart.

Titian could cater to the Roman Church because the Church also revered Plato's Republic.

But just as that Latin proverb said:

Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas

I love Plato, but I love truth more.

Unrestrained freedom was like a dog let loose—it bit everyone it saw.

Severus had