Full Idea
Freedom of the press must be regarded as a permit to sell poison. …I very much fear, therefore, that the dangers of press freedom outweigh its usefulness.
Gist of Idea
The freedom of the press to sell poison outweighs its usefulness
Source
Arthur Schopenhauer (Parerga and Paralipomena [1851], IX:127)
Book Reference
Schopenhauer,Arthur: 'Essays and Aphorisms [from Pand P]', ed/tr. Hollingdale,R.J. [Penguin 1970], p.152
A Reaction
On the whole the modern world disagrees with this view, but watching the popular press in Britain in the last twenty years has made me sympathise with Schopenhauer.