John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill

Philosopher, Political Economist

John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher and political economist known for his contributions to liberal thought and his work 'On Liberty'.

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Born
May 20, 1806
Died
May 8, 1873
Quotes
360
Rank
#117

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John Stuart Mill quotes (page 13 of 18)

360 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.

John Stuart Mill Philosopher, Political Economist
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"In proportion as the people are accustomed to manage their affairs by their own active intervention, instead of leaving them to the government, their desires will turn to repelling tyranny, rather than to tyrannizing: while in proportion as all ready initiative and direction resides in the government, and individuals habitually feel and act as under its perpetual tutelage, popular institutions develop in them not the desire of freedom, but an unmeasured appetite for place and power."

Government People Leaving
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"... what is really inspiriting and ennobling in the doctrine of freewill, is the conviction that we have real power over the formation of our own character; that our will, by influencing some of our circumstances, can modify our future habits or capabilities of willing."

Real Character Doctrine
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"A people may prefer a free government, but if, from indolence, or carelessness, or cowardice, or want of public spirit, they are unequal to the exertions necessary for preserving it. They are more or less unfit for liberty; and although it may be for their good to have had it even for a short time, they are unlikely long to enjoy it"

Government Long People
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"To understand one woman is not necessarily to understand any other woman."

Understanding One Woman
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"In a really equal democracy, every or any section would be represented, not disproportionately, but proportionately. ... Unless they are, there is not equal government, but a government of inequality and privilege: one part of the people rule over the rest: there is a part whose fair and equal share of influence in the representation is withheld from them, contrary to all just government, but, above all, contrary to the principle of democracy, which professes equality as its very root and foundation."

Roots Government People
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"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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"Lord, enlighten thou our enemies. Sharpen their wits, give acuteness to their perceptions, and consecutiveness and clearness to their reasoning powers: we are in danger from their folly, not from their wisdom; their weakness is what fills us with apprehension, not their strength."

Giving Perception Enemy
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"Human beings are no longer born to their place in life...but are free to employ their faculties and such favorable chances as offer, to achieve the lot which may appear to them as desirable."

May Chance Economics
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"[A] man and still more the woman, who can be accused either of doing "what nobody does," or of not doing "what everybody does," is the subject of as much depreciatory remark as if he or she had committed some grave moral delinquency."

Men Doe Moral
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"Stupidity is much the same all the world over"

Stupidity World
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"If religious belief be indeed so necessary to mankind, as we are continually assured that it is, there is great reason to lament, that the intellectual grounds of it should require to be backed by moral bribery or subornation of the understanding."

Religious Understanding Intellectual
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John Stuart Mill Philosopher, Political Economist
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"What a country wants to make it richer is never consumption, but production. Where there is the latter, we may be sure that there is no want of the former. To produce, implies that the producer de_sires to consume; why else should he give himself useless labor? He may not wish to consume what he himself produces, but his motive for producing and selling is the desire to buy. Therefore, if the producers generally produce and sell more and more, they certainly also buy more and more."

Country Giving Wish
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"Everyone who receives the protection of society owes a return for the benefit."

Benefits Return Protection
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"The best state for human nature is that in which, while no one is poor, no one desires to be richer, nor has any reason to fear from thrust back, by the efforts of others to push themselves forward."

Effort Desire Human Nature
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"It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied."

Pigs Satisfied Dissatisfied
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John Stuart Mill Philosopher, Political Economist
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"The idea is essentially repulsive, of a society held together only by the relations and feelings arising out of pecuniary interest."

Ideas Feelings Together
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"Customs are made for customary circumstances, and customary characters."

Character Made Circumstances
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"All women are brought up from the very earliest years in the belief that their ideal of character is the very opposite to that of men; not self-will, and government by self-control, but submission and yielding to the control of others. All the moralities tell them that it is their nature to live for others; to make complete abnegation of themselves, and to have no life but in their affections."

Character Men Self
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"The great majority of those who speak of perfectibility as a dream, do so because they feel that it is one which would afford them no pleasure if it were realized."

Dream Majority Speak
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"The ends of scientific classification are best answered, when the objects are formed into groups respecting which a greater number of general propositions can be made, and those propositions more important, than could be made respecting any other groups into which the same things could be distributed. ... A classification thus formed is properly scientific or philosophical, and is commonly called a Natural, in contradistinction to a Technical or Artificial, classification or arrangement."

Philosophical Science Numbers
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