Bentham, Jeremy

"Pain teaches us more than pleasure; suffering refines the character."

"The greatest good is achieved through the rational calculation of pleasure and pain."

"Man is capable of improvement through education and good laws."

"The happiness of the individual is best served by the happiness of society."

"Utilitarianism demands that we act always to produce the most good for the most people."

"Justice is nothing but the calculation of human happiness and suffering."

"The question of whether animals can suffer is far more important than whether they can reason."

"All rational action is based on the desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain."

"A government that ignores the happiness of its citizens is a tyranny."

"The only true measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members."

"Rights are not natural; they are created by government for the benefit of society."

"The reform of legal institutions is the only cure for social injustice."

"Happiness is not something to be pursued directly; it results from virtuous action."

"The greatest benefit of an education is learning to think critically and question authority."

"All pleasure is good, and all pain is bad; the task is to maximize the former and minimize the latter."

"A rational being will always prefer the greatest happiness available to them."

"The principle of utility demands that we sacrifice individual desire for the public good."

"Science and reason are the only reliable guides to human happiness."

"The happiness of future generations should weigh heavily in our moral calculations."

"Legislation without a clear purpose is mere tyranny disguised as law."

"The path to happiness lies in understanding and acting on the principle of utility."

"To act morally is to act in accordance with the greatest happiness principle."

"Society is nothing but the aggregate of individual happiness and suffering."

"The best government is that which governs least and produces the most happiness."

"Every law that does not serve the greatest happiness of the greatest number is unjust."

"Moral progress depends on our ability to overcome self-interest for the common good."

"The foundation of all rights is the capacity to suffer."

"To be happy, one must live according to reason and calculate consequences carefully."

"A society is only as just as its treatment of criminals and the imprisoned."

"The measure of all things is their capacity to produce or prevent pleasure and pain."