To spread healthy ideas among even the lowest classes of people, to remove men from the influence of prejudice and passion, to make reason the arbiter and supreme guide of public opinion; that is the essential goal of the sciences; that is how science will contribute to the advancement of civilization, and that is what deserves protection of governments who want to insure the stability of their power.

Rapport historique sur les progrès des sciences naturelles (1810) as quoted in Clifford D. Conner, A People's History of Science (2005)

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