John Stuart Mill

"Morality is not the science of what is right and what is wrong, but of what is conducive to human welfare."

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

"A people that does not take pains to preserve its liberty does not deserve to retain it."

"In the case of any considerable people acting together, their collective opinion is always of great weight."

"The individual is not accountable to society for his actions in so far as these concern the interests of no one but himself."

"Unmask the sociability of the human mind and you have discovered the basis of all morality."

"The utilitarian philosophy does approve of cultivating the love of virtue for its own sake."

"The more we advance in knowledge, the more we depart from the idea of unlimited individual action."

"The privilege of any man can be extended to any other man by the principle of equal rights."

"Society has had ample opportunity to know whether such restrictions as these tend to its advantage, and experience has shown that they do not."

"I am as confident as I am of any opinion I hold, that mankind are not in general happier than they were a thousand years ago."

"The social contract theory supposes each individual has accepted the protection of society in exchange for certain duties."

"Every human being is entitled to form and act upon his own opinion, provided he respects the like freedom in others."

"All the skill and management of the physician are directed towards one goal: the restoration of health."

"The virtue of self-denial is a quality that appears to be more honored than practised in the modern age."

"A system of education which does not develop the heart as well as the intellect is incomplete."

"The most sacred duty of a human being is to provide for the welfare of those dependent upon him."

"In estimating the value of actions we must have regard to the consequences that are likely to follow."

"The question is not whether all restrictions on individuality are wrong, but which restrictions and in what cases."

"Whatever it is part of the function of a person to do, it is also his duty to do it well."

"The grand difficulty of knowledge is to know when to have done with investigation and to act upon conclusions."

"The general rule is that anything which tends to prevent people from being happy is bad policy."

"I am convinced that no man who shall be born into this world will ever be able to say that he understands the ultimate nature of things."

"The person who has learned to think for himself has achieved the greatest gift that education can bestow."

"There are but two modes of action, the one is through persuasion and consent, and the other through force and compulsion."

"The true principle of utility is so far from taking away the practice of virtue, that it constitutes the foundation of virtue."

"A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them."

"The only way out is through; we must face our difficulties head-on."

"Custom is the plague of intellectual superiority; it crushes the exceptional mind."

"The individual is not accountable to society for his thoughts, only for his actions."