Spencer, Herbert

"A man's own conscience should be his first law."

"All evil results from the excess of something good."

"The present age is an age of transition."

"War is a relic of barbarism."

"The welfare of humanity is the ultimate standard of morality."

"Individuality is the most precious thing in life."

"The instinct of every wise man should be to fight to the death to prevent it."

"The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues."

"Nothing can ever happen twice."

"The chief function of the open hand is to receive."

"In the struggle for existence, it is the fittest who survive."

"Knowledge of the relations of things constitutes true knowledge."

"The young must be trained to think and judge for themselves."

"True morality can exist only in a state of freedom."

"Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened."

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn."

"To play a note on an instrument well requires years of practice."

"All higher education has always been an affair of small numbers of students."

"The penalty which the wise suffer, if they govern in the interest of the governed, is to be talked about as tyrants."

"Great men are those selected by the times."

"The evolutionary process is not random; it is shaped by natural laws."

"To be a radical one must be a conservative."

"The pursuit of money does not ennoble us."

"Imagination is the beginning of creation."

"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time."

"Action is the responsibility of all citizens in a democratic society."

"The mystery of life is its beauty."

"Death is the pathway to new life."

"Those who desire to make a perfect state must not expect to perfect human nature first."