Thomas Malthus

"The greatest improvements come to those who combine knowledge with practical experience."

"Population is regulated by the means of subsistence and the customs of society."

"The freedom to pursue one's own happiness is limited by the rights of others."

"To understand the past is to better predict and shape the future."

"The improvement of the human condition requires both individual effort and social reform."

"In the grand scheme of nature, man is but one among many creatures."

"The desire for improvement is the mark of a living and growing society."

"The true measure of civilization is not wealth but the quality of life of its people."

"Every generation must learn anew the principles of virtue and prudence."

"The harmony of society depends upon the proper subordination of desires to reason."

"To create lasting change, one must appeal to both the mind and the heart."

"The natural abundance of the earth is limited by the laws of physics and biology."

"The improvement of mankind is possible only through the improvement of institutions."

"In every age, the struggle between abundance and scarcity shapes human civilization."

"The principle of population is not a counsel of despair but a call to wisdom."

"The true source of social progress is the moral and intellectual development of the people."

"To live without fear is to live without prudence."

"The greatest happiness is found not in the pursuit of pleasure but in the exercise of virtue."

"The power of population is so superior to the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race."

"I have read some of the speculations on the perfectibility of man and society with great pleasure, but I have never been able to agree with the optimism they express."

"The poor laws of England tend to increase poverty rather than to diminish it."

"It is not the province of an enlightened legislator to consider poverty as a blessing."

"The constant effort towards population means a constant effort, on the part of mankind, to increase the means of happiness."

"Man cannot live in the midst of plenty, one day, and starve the next, unless by some violent convulsion of nature."

"I think I may fairly make two postulata. First, that food is necessary to the existence of man. Secondly, that the passion between the sexes is necessary and will remain nearly in its present state."

"The question of the proper proportions of the different commodities appears to be of great importance to the health and happiness of a state."

"I do not think there is any reasonable ground for suspecting that we shall ever be able to prevent misery."

"The object of my work is to explain the causes which prevent greater equality in the distribution of the fruits of labour."

"Wealth and the command of the necessaries and luxuries of life constitute the principal distinctions of civilized society."

"The accumulation of capital is the basis of all improvement and prosperity."