Social reform is not to be secured by noise and shouting; by complaints and denunciation; by the formation of parties, or the making of revolutions; but by the awakening of thought and the progress of ideas. Until there be correct thought, there cannot be right action; and when there is correct thought, right action will follow.

Henry George

Categorized in : Ideas Party Progress

What has destroyed every previous civilization has been the tendency to the unequal distribution of wealth and power.

Henry George

distribution-of-wealth prosperity civilization

The equal right of all men to the use of land is as clear as their equal right to breathe the air it is a right proclaimed by the fact of their existence. For we cannot suppose that some men have a right to be in this world, and others no right.

Henry George

land air men

What protectionism teaches us, is to do to ourselves in time of peace what enemies seek to do to us in time of war.

Henry George

tariffs war enemy

There are only three ways by which any individual can get wealth — by work, by gift or by theft. And, clearly, the reason why the workers get so little is that the beggars and thieves get so much.

Henry George

money work way

It is not the business of government to make men virtuous or religious, or to preserve the fool from the consequences of his own folly. Government should be repressive no further than is necessary to secure liberty by protecting the equal rights of each from aggression on the part of others, and the moment governmental prohibitions extend beyond this line they are in danger of defeating the very ends they are intended to serve.

Henry George

religious rights men

There is danger in reckless change, but greater danger in blind conservatism.

Henry George

growth blind change

Blockading squadrons are a means whereby nations seek to prevent their enemies from trading; protective tariffs are a means whereby nations attempt to prevent their own people from trading. What protectionism teaches us, is to do to ourselves in time of peace what enemies seek to do to us in time of war.

Henry George

war mean people

To prevent government from becoming corrupt and tyrannous, its organization and methods should be as simple as possible, its functions be restricted to those necessary to the common welfare, and in all its parts it should be kept as close to the people and as directly within their control as may be.

Henry George

government organization simple

Laissez faire (in its full true meaning) opens the way to the realization of the noble dreams of socialism.

Henry George

laissez-faire-capitalism noble dream

The tax upon land values is the most just and equal of all taxes. It falls only upon those who receive from society a peculiar and valuable benefit, and upon them in proportion to the benefit they receive.It is the taking by the community for the use of the community of that value which is the creation of the community. It is the application of the common property to common uses. When all rent is taken by taxation for the needs of the community, then will the equality ordained by nature be attained.

Henry George

land taken fall

When we consider that labor is the producer of all wealth, is it not evident that the impoverishment and, dependence of labor are abnormal conditions resulting from restrictions and usurpations, and that instead of accepting protection, what labor should demand is freedom. That those who advocate any extension of freedom choose to go no further than suits their own special purpose is no reason why freedom itself should be distrusted.

Henry George

abnormal purpose special

That which is unjust can really profit no one; that which is just can really harm no one.

Henry George

unjust political philosophy

The protection of the masses has in all times been the pretense of tyranny - the plea of monarchy, of aristocracy, of special privilege of every kind. The slave owners justified slavery as protecting the slaves.

Henry George

slave-owners aristocracy special

Let no man imagine that he has no influence. Whoever he may be, and wherever he may be placed, the man who thinks becomes a light and a power.

Henry George

leadership men thinking

Liberty calls to us again. We must follow her further; we must trust her fully. Either we must wholly accept her or she will not stay. It is not enough that men should vote; it is not enough that they should be theoretically equal before the law. They must have liberty to avail themselves of the opportunities and means of life; they must stand on equal terms with reference to the bounty of Nature.

Henry George

opportunity men mean

Man is the only animal whose desires increase as they are fed; the only animal that is never satisfied.

Henry George

animal men philosophy

Charity is false, futile, and poisonous when offered as a substitute for justice.

Henry George

substitutes charity justice

If you would have the slave show the virtues of the freeman, you must first make him free.

Henry George

politics wisdom firsts

No theory is too false, no fable too absurd, no superstition too degrading for acceptance when it has become embedded in common belief. Men will submit themselves to torture and to death, mothers will immolate [burn] their children at the bidding of beliefs they thus accept.

Henry George

faith mother children

For every social wrong there must be a remedy. But the remedy can be nothing less than the abolition of the wrong.

Henry George

honesty integrity character