Robert Owen

"Education is not the filling of empty vessels, but the cultivation of human faculties."

"Without cooperation, society cannot exist; competition destroys the bonds that hold it together."

"The poor are victims of circumstances, not of their own depravity."

"Knowledge of truth should lead to the practice of virtue."

"The real wealth of a nation consists in the happiness and virtue of its people."

"Society will never be well governed until human nature is properly understood."

"The foundation of all improvement is the improvement of education."

"Men cannot be virtuous if they are ignorant; knowledge is the parent of virtue."

"The condition of the laboring classes is the true test of social progress."

"Without justice, no society can be stable or prosperous."

"The human mind is capable of being formed into any shape the legislator pleases."

"True benevolence is not the giving of money, but the removal of the causes of poverty."

"Rational religion teaches that the happiness of all is the greatest good."

"The improvement of the poor depends not on their industry alone, but on the justice of society."

"Man is the creature of circumstances; change those circumstances and the man changes."

"Without the proper education of the young, society will always remain imperfect."

"The wise man recognizes that his happiness is inseparable from the happiness of others."

"Cooperation between all classes is necessary for the improvement of society."

"The poor man's misery is not his fault but the fault of the social system."

"Knowledge applied with wisdom produces happiness; knowledge without wisdom produces misery."

"The true foundation of theology is the goodness of God and the happiness of man."

"Until we reform the system, we cannot reform the individuals within it."

"The character of every individual is formed by the period of infancy."

"Mankind's liberation depends upon the diffusion of knowledge among all classes."

"The happiness of the individual is bound up with the happiness of the whole."

"Society must be reorganized on the principles of reason and benevolence."

"Without the proper circumstances, even the best-intentioned man will fail."

"The improvement of circumstances is the true path to the improvement of character."

"Virtue springs from knowledge; vice springs from ignorance."

"The poor are not the enemies of society; they are its victims."