Spencer, Herbert

"Absolute morality is the regulation of conduct in such a way that it produces the greatest happiness."

"The creative mind plays with the objects it loves."

"No one can be perfectly free till all are free."

"The more lively and vivid is your vision of the desired end, the more strongly this end will tend to realize itself."

"Survival of the fittest applies to nations as much as to animals."

"What is morality but the nature of things recognized and responded to?"

"The preservation of health is a duty. Few seem conscious that there is such a thing as physical morality."

"Society exists for the benefit of its members; not the members for the benefit of society."

"An education which leaves the emotions untouched can produce only a partially developed being."

"Wonder is the seed of knowledge."

"The true law of the universe is that the same energy exists under various manifestations."

"Conscience is the internal perception of the rejection of a desire as wrong."

"Progress from lower to higher forms is progress in heterogeneity."

"Competition is the life of trade."

"The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated."

"Every man is free to do that which he wills, provided he infringes not the equal freedom of any other man."

"Life is the continuous adjustment of internal relations to external relations."

"The modification of an organism to suit its environment is the secret of its success."

"Poetry is rhythmical, imaginative language expressing the invention of the mind."

"The degree of power is the degree of pleasure."

"A theory is not established by showing that it may be true; it is established by showing that it must be true."

"Nature has no principles; she furnishes us the facts and we erect the principles."

"The experienced soul knows that to be alive is to have battles."

"Universal progress is not an accident but a necessity."

"The habit of regard must be formed; and the habit can only be formed by discipline."

"Individual freedom is the best guarantor of social welfare."

"The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals would not only load himself with a most unnecessary attention, but assume an authority which could safely be trusted to no single person."

"Before he frames a very limited theory, every student should have acquired what may be called the scientific habit of mind."

"Art is the response to the demand for entertainment, for the stimulation of our senses and imagination."

"The ultimate man will be one in whom private ethics and public ethics are one."