Government can have no more than two legitimate purposes - the suppression of injustice against individuals within the community, and the common defense against external invasion. William Godwin More Quotes by William Godwin More Quotes From William Godwin He that loves reading has everything within his reach. William Godwin educationinspirationalbook If he who employs coercion against me could mould me to his purposes by argument, no doubt he would. He pretends to punish me because his argument is strong; but he really punishes me because his argument is weak. William Godwin strongpurposedoubt Whenever government assumes to deliver us from the trouble of thinking for ourselves, the only consequences it produces are those of torpor and imbecility. William Godwin assuminggovernmentthinking Above all we should not forget, that government is an evil, an usurpation upon the private judgment and individual conscience of mankind. William Godwin judgementgovernmentevil Revolution is engendered by an indignation with tyranny, yet is itself pregnant with tyranny. William Godwin revolutiontyrannypregnancy The first duty of man is to take none of the principles of conduct upon trust; to do nothing without a clear and individual conviction that it is right to be done. William Godwin doneprinciplesmen The wise man is satisfied with nothing. William Godwin satisfiedwisemen Revolutions are the produce of passion, not of sober and tranquil reason. William Godwin passionrevolutionquiet The great model of the affection of love in human beings is the sentiment which subsists between parents and children. William Godwin sentimentalparentchildren The philosophy of the wisest man that ever existed, is mainly derived from the act of introspection. William Godwin wisest-manmenphilosophy The cause of justice is the cause of humanity. Its advocates should overflow with universal good will. We should love this cause, for it conduces to the general happiness of mankind. William Godwin justicehappinesslove Make men wise, and by that very operation you make them free. Civil liberty follows as a consequence of this; no usurped power can stand against the artillery of opinion. William Godwin wisdomwisemen As long as parents and teachers in general shall fall under the established rule, it is clear that politics and modes of government will educate and infect us all. They poison our minds, before we can resist, or so much as suspect their malignity. Like the barbarous directors of the Eastern seraglios, they deprive us of our vitality, and fit us for their despicable employment from the cradle. William Godwin governmentteacherfall Invisible things are the only realities; invisible things alone are the things that shall remain. William Godwin invisible-thingsinvisiblereality If ever there was a book calculated to make a man in love with its author, this appears to me to be the book. William Godwin ifsmenbook The proper method for hastening the decay of error, is not, by brute force, or by regulation which is one of the classes of force, to endeavour to reduce men to intellectual uniformity; but on the contrary by teaching every man to think for himself. William Godwin teachingmenthinking All education is despotism. It is perhaps impossible for the young to be conducted without introducing in many cases the tyranny implicit in obedience. Go there; do that; read; write; rise; lie down - will perhaps forever be the language addressed to youth by age. William Godwin foreverwritinglying Government will not fail to employ education, to strengthen its hands and perpetuate its institutions. William Godwin governmenthandsschool One of the prerogatives by which man is eminently distinguished from all other living beings inhabiting this globe of earth, consists in the gift of reason. William Godwin earthreasonmen As the true object of education is not to render the pupil the mere copy of his preceptor, it is rather to be rejoiced in, than lamented, that various reading should lead him into new trains of thinking. William Godwin pupilsreadingthinking
