Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
In the supremacy of self-control consists one of the perfections of the ideal man.
We do not commonly see in a tax a diminution of freedom, and yet it clearly is one.
Originally, ethics has no existence apart from religion, which holds it in solution.
The most important attribute of man as a moral being is the faculty of self-control.
In science the important thing is to modify and change one's ideas as science advances.
Religion has been compelled by science to give up one after another of its dogmas. . . .
Life is not for learning nor is life for working, but learning and working are for life.
With a higher moral nature will come a restriction on the multiplication of the inferior.
The idea of disembodied spirits is wholly unsupported by evidence, and I cannot accept it.
No philosopher's stone of a constitution can produce golden conduct from leaden instincts.
Society exists for the benefit of its members, not the members for the benefit of society.
The child takes most of his nature of the mother, besides speech, manners, and inclination.
A function to each organ, and each organ to its own function, is the law of all organization.
Absolute morality is the regulation of conduct in such a way that pain shall not be inflicted.
People are beginning to see that the first requisite to success in life is to be a good animal.
Whatever fosters militarism makes for barbarism; whatever fosters peace makes for civilization.
When a man's knowledge is not in order, the more of it he has the greater will be his confusion.
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly, is to fill the world with fools.
Aggression which is flagitious when committed by one, is not sanctioned when committed by a host.
The society exists for the benefit of its members; not its members for the benefit of the society.
The universal basis of co-operation is the proportioning of benefits received to services rendered.
The wise man must remember that while he is a descendant of the past, he is a parent of the future.
Religion is the recognition that all things are manifestations of a Power which transcends our knowledge.
The behavior of men to the lower animals, and their behavior to each other, bear a constant relationship.
The preservation of health is a duty. Few seem conscious that there is such a thing as physical morality.
Every man is free to do that which he wills, provided he infringes not the equal freedom of any other man.
Marriage: a ceremony in which rings are put on the finger of the lady and through the nose of the gentleman.
Architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and poetry, may truly be called the efflorescence of civilised life.
Pervading all nature we may see at work a stern discipline , which is a little cruel that it may be very kind.
Civilization is a progress from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity toward a definite, coherent heterogeneity.
Objects we ardently pursue bring little happiness when gained; most of our pleasures come from unexpected sources.
Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded.
Old forms of government finally grow so oppressive that they must be thrown off even at the risk of reigns of terror.
In assuming any office besides its essential one, the State begins to lose the power of fulfilling its essential one.
It is the function of parents to see that their children habitually experience the true consequences of their conduct.
A living thing is distinguished from a dead thing by the multiplicity of the changes at any moment taking place in it.
The white light of truth, in traversing the many sided transparent soul of the poet, is refracted into iris-hued poetry.
We have unmistakable proof that throughout all past time, there has been a ceaseless devouring of the weak by the strong.
Music must take rank as the highest of the fine arts - as the one which, more than any other, ministers to human welfare.
The presumption that any current opinion is not wholly false, gains in strength according to the number of its adherents.
It must be admitted that the conception of virtue cannot be separated from the conception of happiness-producing conduct.
Music must take rank as the highest of the fine arts - as the one which, more than any other, ministers to the human spirit.
The essential trait in the moral consciousness, is the control of some feeling or feelings by some other feeling or feelings.
A man's liberties are none the less aggressed upon because those who coerce him do so in the belief that he will be benefited.
Equity knows no difference of sex. In its vocabulary the word man must be understood in a generic, and not in a specific sense.
There is no origin for the idea of an afterlife, save the conclusion which the savage draws from the notion suggested by dreams.
However insignificant the minority, and however trifling the proposed trespass against their rights, no such trespass is permissible.
An argument fatal to the communist theory, is suggested by the fact, that a desire for property is one of the elements of our nature.
Of all the knowledge, that most worth having is knowledge about health! The first requisite of a good life is to be a healthy person.
Every man may claim the fullest liberty to exercise his faculties compatible with the possession of like liberties by every other man.