The perpetual obstacle to human advancement is custom. John Stuart Mill More Quotes by John Stuart Mill More Quotes From John Stuart Mill Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest. John Stuart Mill equality tolerance suffering Life has a certain flavor for those who have fought and risked all that the sheltered and protected can never experience. John Stuart Mill flavor certain survival Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so. John Stuart Mill heart happy happiness 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 stupid mean believe The dictum that truth always triumphs over persecution is one of the pleasant falsehoods which men repeat after one another till they pass into commonplaces, but which all experience refutes. John Stuart Mill honesty truth men On religion in particular the time appears to me to have come when it is the duty of all who, being qualified in point of knowledge, have on mature consideration satisfied themselves that the current opinions are not only false but hurtful, to make their dissent known. John Stuart Mill agnostic dissent duty 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 change fundamentals thinking Popular opinions, on subjects not palpable to sense, are often true, but seldom or never the whole truth. John Stuart Mill halloween opinion truth 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 individuality development life It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day's toil of any human being. John Stuart Mill invention toil technology In this age, the mere example of nonconformity, the mere refusal to bend the knee to custom, is itself a service. John Stuart Mill political example age To think that because those who wield power in society wield in the end that of government, therefore it is of no use to attempt to influence the constitution of the government by acting on opinion, is to forget that opinion is itself one of the greatest active social forces. One person with a belief is a social power equal to ninety-nine who have only interests. John Stuart Mill ninety-nine government thinking The amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage it contained. That so few now dare to be eccentric marks the chief danger of the time. John Stuart Mill vigor genius courage The disease which inflicts bureaucracy and what they usually die from is routine. John Stuart Mill routine rebellious disease I am not aware that any community has a right to force another to be civilized. John Stuart Mill civilized force community But these few are the salt of the earth; without them, human life would become a stagnant pool. Not only is it they who introduce good things which did not before exist, it is they who keep the life in those which already existed. John Stuart Mill salt individuality earth 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 different christian world Whatever crushes individuality is despotism, by whatever name it may be called and whether it professes to be enforcing the will of God or the injunctions of men. John Stuart Mill crush names men Liberty consists in doing what one desires. John Stuart Mill philosophical liberty desire Christian morality (so called) has all the characters of a reaction; it is, in great part, a protest against Paganism. Its ideal is negative rather than positive; passive rather than action; innocence rather than Nobleness; Abstinence from Evil, rather than energetic Pursuit of Good: in its precepts (as has been well said) "thou shalt not" predominates unduly over "thou shalt. John Stuart Mill christian evil character
