Bentham, Jeremy

"It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong."

"Nature has placed mankind under two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure."

"The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?"

"All punishment is mischief; all punishment in itself is evil."

"Create all the happiness you are able to create; remove all the misery you are able to remove."

"Prejudice apart, the wordsnative and foreign born must seem to us pretty much alike."

"No power of government ought to be employed in the destruction of the facilities of private feeling."

"As to the king, I say—no king."

"The day may come when the rest of the animal creation may acquire those rights which never could have been withholden from them but by the hand of tyranny."

"The principle of utility is the foundation of the Hedonic Calculus."

"It is vain to talk of the interest of the community, without understanding what is the interest of the individual."

"The business of government is to promote the happiness of the society, by punishing and rewarding."

"Sincerity is the best policy, but it is not always the safest."

"It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong."

"Stretching her wings, the bird soars toward the heavens of higher pursuits."

"What pains do others suffer from my conduct?"

"The day may come when the rest of the animal creation may acquire those rights."

"Avoid sorrow by shunning its causes."

"The preservation of the species must be the first care of nature."

"False morality! how many crimes and sorrows of a serious nature thou art the cause of!"

"It is the custom of governments to ruin the very thing they create."

"The art of legislation is to coordinate the actions of men."

"Madness in individuals is something rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."

"The tendencies of all laws have been to lessen equality."

"The word liberty in the mouth of every man means a different thing."

"Taxation is not a voluntary contribution or gift, but a compulsory exaction."

"The way to the palace of wisdom is not through the dark forests of superstition."

"He who cannot govern himself must be prepared to obey others."

"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws."

"Let us make the best use of what is in our power, and appraise the rest as it naturally comes."