Were the respondents in the Senate probe into the Pharmally company being guided by the Machiavellian advice that “… Sometimes, there is need to conceal the fact with words. Do it in such a way that it does not become known, or if it does become known, then you have to be ready with a quick defense”?
It seems they have to try harder; the President cannot make a habit of jumping to their aid. Taking note of J.S. Mill’s commonsense admonition would have forestalled his stranglehold on members of his Cabinet: “We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion, and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still.”
If the hearer would prefer the humorous to the moral perspective, here’s one from Dudley Malone: “I have never in my life learned anything from anyone who agreed with me.”
VIRGINIA CALPOTURA, RSCJ
strvirginia@yahoo.com.ph