John Stuart Mill

"Progress is not an accident, but a necessity."

"The human mind has certain forms of thought which are a priori, and these forms are the conditions of all knowledge."

"Conviction is the conscience of the mind."

"There is a standard, but it is not the standard of each one's own opinion."

"Women cannot be expected to devote themselves to the emancipation of women as long as they are not allowed to love."

"It is a revolting spectacle to see a whole nation held in subjection, because it suits the purposes of some despotic ruler."

"The moral progress of society depends not on its laws, but on the character of its citizens."

"Many persons, in an advanced state of society, are little better in their personal behavior than the rude inhabitants of a barbarous age."

"The duty to extend our sympathies to all sentient creatures is one that we ought never to lose sight of."

"Knowledge and understanding are not the same thing; one may possess knowledge without understanding."

"When we consider how vastly our understandings are limited, it is a reasonable humility to suppose that we know very little of the workings of nature."

"The custom is there, and we are bound by it; but we are also bound to question it."

"An active and inquisitive mind finds nourishment even in what would be poison to a sluggish one."

"It is only by boldly exploring the unknown that mankind makes discoveries; fear of the unknown is the enemy of progress."

"Money is a form of power, and like all forms of power, its use must be governed by moral considerations."

"The habit of analysis, if not guided by judgment, will destroy the power of feeling."

"A writer ought to have a second object: to teach; but his first object should be to please."

"The capacity for the nobler feelings is in most natures a very tender plant, easily killed, not only by hostile influences, but by mere neglect."

"A human being can fully develop only through the exercise of freedom."

"To know one's self, one must see one's self in the context of one's times."

"Diversity of thought is the greatest asset any society can possess."

"The greatest sources of contentment in life spring from our sense of moral correctness."

"We make a grave mistake if we suppose that all the characters and tendencies of mankind are such as to be permanently improved by the same influences."

"All the germs of future achievement and present character are summed up in the word education."

"The time is ripe for the great question of women's political equality to be urgently pressed upon the attention of mankind."

"Not the violent conflict between parts of the truth, but the quiet suppression of half of it, is the formidable evil."

"The individual in society must yield certain rights to the collective good, but the collective good is not the highest good."

"Pleasure and freedom of the nobler kind is worth something, even to those who are bound by duty."

"A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight is a man with nothing worthy of his respect."

"The importance of protecting other people's liberty is the foundation of a free society."