"If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed"

Benjamin Franklin highlights the challenges and responsibilities faced by those involved in publishing and disseminating written ideas. The statement underscores the inherent subjectivity of offense; what might seem inoffensive or innocuous to one individual can deeply trouble another. Franklin observes that complete unanimity of opinion is impossible in human society, given its diversity of backgrounds, beliefs, and values. As a result, any statement or work, however carefully composed, runs the risk of irritating, contradicting, or offending someone somewhere.

The work of printers, by extension, writers, journalists, scholars, publishers, or any conveyors of information, demands a willingness to tolerate a certain level of discomfort within the audience. If the fear of giving offense were to guide all editorial decisions, the result would be a stifling uniformity or worse, an empty silence. Franklin is wary of such a risk; he suggests that progress, discussion, and the exchange of knowledge depend on the courage to publish ideas, even those that might provoke disagreement or dissent. It is through this dynamic interplay, where ideas are proposed, challenged, and refined, that societies advance in their collective understanding.

Franklin’s perspective implicitly champions freedom of speech and the press as necessary for a healthy society. Censorship, whether external or self-imposed, can easily descend into intellectual stagnation. True freedom of expression must allow for the articulation of unpopular or controversial positions. This approach, however, does not absolve printers, or writers, of responsibility; rather, it requires discernment, integrity, and respect for readers. Franklin’s words ultimately advocate for balance: a recognition that no idea will ever be universally palatable, but that honest discourse, even if occasionally offensive, is preferable to suppressing thought altogether. The marketplace of ideas relies on diversity and the acceptance that disagreement is not only inevitable, but beneficial.