Note 46 — Chapter I · THE SATIRIC SPIRIT
Reading edition
Imaginary Conversations: Lucian and Timotheus.
Timotheus, exultant over the Dialogues, remarks that “Nothing can be so gratifying and satisfactory to a rightly disposed mind, as the subversion of imposture by the force of ridicule.” Disappointed, however, in his assumption that Lucian is now ready to embrace the true faith, which turns out to be a non sequitur, he accuses the inflexible pagan of sacrilege, ready to turn into ridicule the true and the holy. To which Lucian in turn replies “In other words, to turn myself into a fool. He who brings ridicule to bear against Truth, finds in his hands a blade without a hilt. The most sparkling and pointed flame of wit flickers and expires against the incombustible walls of her sanctuary.”
Lucian himself, in The Angler, declares it his business to hate quacks, jugglery, lies, and conceit.