Bentham, Jeremy

"The merit of an idea has nothing to do with the merit of the man who proposes it."

"Pain and pleasure are the sovereign masters of mankind."

"One man's meat is another man's poison."

"The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the smallest amount of hissing."

"The number of those who require to be helped is far greater than the number of those who can afford to help them."

"It is the greatest happiness principle which must guide all our legislation."

"To know what to do and how to do it, one must know oneself."

"The influence of precedents is so powerful because people are so apt to conform."

"I would rather be a dog and bay at the moon than such a Roman."

"The power of the purse is the power of life itself."

"The basis of all virtue is the determination to make others happy."

"A man's health is his real wealth."

"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any moment."

"The good of an individual is the foundation of the good of the whole."

"Few, I trust, are disposed to reject the proposition that the greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of all morality and legislation."

"Time is money; but money is not time."

"The right to think, to speak, and to act with freedom - these are the prerequisites of happiness."

"Experience is the best school, but the tuition is high."

"It is useless to speak of restraint in government; the very nature of government is to exert force."

"The disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful is the source of all injustice."

"All mischief is pain; it is therefore the natural opponent of happiness."

"A good government ought to protect its citizens from the consequences of their own foolishness and shortsightedness."

"The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow."

"No power on earth can compare with the power of an idea whose time has come."

"The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, but the kind of man the country turns out."

"Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."

"The pleasure of one is the pleasure of two when shared."

"To understand the human condition, one must first understand pleasure and pain."

"In the vast domain of human action and human inquiry, there are few subjects of greater importance than legislation."

"The worst part of an unjust law is that it corrupts the best citizens."