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Paper does not refuse ink.

Posted by Serge Liberman on February 20, 2005

In Reply to: Paper does not refuse ink. posted by Tan on February 20, 2005

As you say, Tan, the phrase does emphasise the importance of retaining a healthy scepticism towards what is written in the paper/ magazine/ report/ memo etc.
But it also means that one may write whatever one will, however fallacious, absurd, obscene, incendiary, murderous, and so on. The paper can never resist what the writer wishes to pen on to it.
An updated version of this saying is that just as paper does not refuse ink, nor do computers reject keystrokes.
As for the origin of the phrase - sorry, I can't trace it.

Serge.

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