A state which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile instruments in its hands even for beneficial purposes–will find that with small men no great thing can really be accomplished.
JOHN STUART MILLIn the long-run, the best proof of a good character is good actions.
More John Stuart Mill Quotes
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Next to selfishness the principal cause which makes life unsatisfactory is want of mental cultivation.
JOHN STUART MILL -
No slave is a slave to the same lengths, and in so full a sense of the word, as a wife is.
JOHN STUART MILL -
How can great minds be produced in a country where the test of great minds is agreeing in the opinion of small minds?
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We have a right, also, in various ways, to act upon our unfavorable opinion of anyone, not to the oppression of his individuality, but in the exercise of ours.
JOHN STUART MILL -
A democratic constitution, not supported by democratic institutions in detail, but confined to the central government, not only is not political freedom, but often creates a spirit precisely the reverse, carrying down to the lowest grade in society the desire and ambition of political domination.
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To mistake money for wealth, is the same sort of error as to mistake the highway which may be the easiest way of getting to your house or lands, for the house and lands themselves.
JOHN STUART MILL -
The object of universities is not to make skillful lawyers, physicians or engineers. It is to make capable and cultivated human beings.
JOHN STUART MILL -
I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them.
JOHN STUART MILL -
A great statesman is he who knows when to depart from traditions, as well as when to adhere to them.
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In proportion to the development of his individuality, each person becomes more valuable to himself, and is therefore capable of being more valuable to others.
JOHN STUART MILL -
To understand one woman is not necessarily to understand any other woman.
JOHN STUART MILL -
I did not mean that Conservatives are generally stupid; I meant, that stupid persons are generally Conservative. I believe that to be so obvious and undeniable a fact that I hardly think any hon. Gentleman will question it.
JOHN STUART MILL -
Solitude in the presence of natural beauty and grandeur is the cradle of thought and aspirations which are not only good for the individual, but which society can ill do without.
JOHN STUART MILL -
To bring a child into existence without a fair prospect of being able, not only to provide food for its body, but instruction and training for its mind is a moral crime, both against the unfortunate offspring and against society.
JOHN STUART MILL -
In all intellectual debates, both sides tend to be correct in what they affirm, and wrong in what they deny.
JOHN STUART MILL -
A profound conviction raises a man above the feeling of ridicule.
JOHN STUART MILL -
No great improvements in the lot of mankind are possible until a great change takes place in the fundamental constitution of their modes of thought.
JOHN STUART MILL -
Stupidity is much the same all the world over.
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All political revolutions, not affected by foreign conquest, originate in moral revolutions. The subversion of established institutions is merely one consequence of the previous subversion of established opinions.
JOHN STUART MILL -
A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.
JOHN STUART MILL -
In this age, the man who dares to think for himself and to act independently does a service to his race.
JOHN STUART MILL -
The most cogent reason for restricting the interference of government is the great evil of adding unnecessarily to its power.
JOHN STUART MILL -
Genius can only breathe freely in an atmosphere of freedom.
JOHN STUART MILL -
To refuse a hearing to an opinion, because they are sure that it is false, is to assume that their certainty is the same thing as absolute certainty. All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility.
JOHN STUART MILL -
There is one plain rule of life. Try thyself unweariedly till thou findest the highest thing thou art capable of doing, faculties and outward circumstances being both duly considered, and then do it.
JOHN STUART MILL -
Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.
JOHN STUART MILL