But neither does any government exempt the pursuit of knowledge, any
more than the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness (as the American
Constitution puts it), from all social conditions. No man is allowed
to put his mother into the stove because he desires to know how long an
adult woman will survive at a temperature of 500 degrees Fahrenheit,
no matter how important or interesting that particular addition to the
store of human knowledge may be. A man who did so would have short work
made not only of his right to knowledge, but of his right to live and
all his other rights at the same time. The right to knowledge is not
the only right; and its exercise must be limited by respect for other
rights, and for its own exercise by others. When a man says to Society,
"May I torture my mother in pursuit of knowledge?" Society replies,
"No." If he pleads, "What! Not even if I have a chance of finding out
how to cure cancer by doing it?" Society still says, "Not even then." If
the scientist, making the best of his disappointment, goes on to ask may
he torture a dog, the stupid and callous people who do not realize that
a dog is a fellow-creature and sometimes a good friend, may say Yes,
though Shakespear, Dr. Johnson and their like may say No. But even those
who say "You may torture A dog" never say "You may torture MY dog." And
nobody says, "Yes, because in the pursuit of knowledge you may do as
you please." Just as even the stupidest people say, in effect, "If
you cannot attain to knowledge without burning your mother you must do
without knowledge," so the wisest people say, "If you cannot attain to
knowledge without torturing a dog, you must do without knowledge."