It is a bitter thought, how different a thing the Christianity of the world might have been, if the Christian faith had been adopted as the religion of the empire under the auspices of Marcus Aurelius instead of those of Constantine. John Stuart Mill More Quotes by John Stuart Mill More Quotes From John Stuart Mill A state of things in which a large portion of the most active and inquiring intellects find it advisable to keep the genuine principles and grounds of their convictions within their own breasts, and attempt, in what they address to the public, to fit as much as they can of their own conclusions to premises which they have internally renounced, cannot send forth the open, fearless characters, and logical, consistent intellects who once adorned the thinking world. John Stuart Mill fearless character thinking When the people are too much attached to savage independence, to be tolerant of the amount of power to which it is for their good that they should be subject, the state of society is not yet ripe for representative government. John Stuart Mill independence government people My father never permitted anything which I learnt to degenerate into a mere exercise of memory. He strove to make the understanding not only go along with every step of the teaching but...precede it. John Stuart Mill teaching memories father Over one's mind and over one's body the individual is sovereign. John Stuart Mill freedom body mind The perpetual obstacle to human advancement is custom. John Stuart Mill advancement progress overcoming If it were felt that the free development of individuality is one of the leading essentials of well-being; that it is not only a coordinate element with all that is designated by the terms civilisation, instruction, education, culture, but is itself a necessary part and condition of all those things; there would be no danger that liberty should be undervalued. John Stuart Mill individuality essentials liberty Every one is degraded, whether aware of it or not, when other people, without consulting him, take upon themselves unlimited power to regulate his destiny. John Stuart Mill destiny democracy people In proportion to the development of his individuality, each person becomes more valuable to others. There is a greater fullness of life about his own existence, and when there is more life in the units there is more in the mass which is composed of them. John Stuart Mill fullness-of-life individuality development Laws and systems of polity always begin by recognizing the relations they find already existing between individuals. John Stuart Mill individual law relation A people may prefer a free government, but if by momentary discouragement or temporary panic, or a fit of enthusiasm for an individual, they can be induced to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man, or trust him with powers to subvert their institutions, in all these cases they are unfit for liberty. John Stuart Mill feet men people Society can and does execute its own mandates: and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. John Stuart Mill details-of-life practice mean The great creative individual . . . is capable of more wisdom and virtue than collective man ever can be. John Stuart Mill wisdom inspirational men In the human mind, one-sidedness has always been the rule, and many-sidedness the exception. Hence, even in revolutions of opinion, one part of the truth usually sets while another rises. John Stuart Mill revolution opinion mind If opponents of all important truths do not exist, it is indispensable to imagine them and supply them with the strongest arguments which the most skillful devil's advocate can conjure up. John Stuart Mill opponents devil important Experience has taught me that those who give their time to the absorbing claims of what is called society, not having leisure to keep up a large acquaintance with the organs of opinion, remain much more ignorant of the general state either of the public mind, or of the active and instructed part of it, than a recluse who reads the newspapers need be. John Stuart Mill ignorant mind giving Language is the light of the mind John Stuart Mill language light mind The philosophy of reasoning, to be complete, ought to comprise the theory of bad as well as of good reasoning. John Stuart Mill theory reason philosophy Miracles have no claim whatever to the character of historical facts and are wholly invalid as evidence of any revelation. John Stuart Mill miracle historical character It is given to no human being to stereotype a set of truths, and walk safely by their guidance with his mind's eye closed. John Stuart Mill eye guidance mind Unfortunately for the good sense of mankind, the fact of their fallibility is far from carrying the weight in their practical judgement, which is always allowed to it in theory; for while every one well knows himself to be fallible, few think it necessary to take any precautions against their own fallibility. John Stuart Mill judgement weight thinking
