Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

John Stuart Mill Philosopher

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: United Kingdom
  • Born: May 20, 1806
  • Died: May 8, 1873

John Stuart Mill, was a British philosopher, political economist and civil servant. He was an influential contributor to social theory, political theory and political economy. He has been called "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century". Mill's conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control.

Mill expresses his view on freedom by illustrating how an individual's amelioration of personal quality and self-improvement is the sole source of true freedom. That only when an individual is able to attain such a beneficial standard of one's self, whilst in the absence of rendering external onerosity upon others, in their own journey to procure a higher calibre of self-worth, that true freedom resides. Mill's attitude toward freedom and individual accomplishment through self-improvement has inspired many. By establishing an appreciable level of worthiness concerned with one's ability to fulfill personal standards of notability and merit, Mill was able to provide many with a principal example of how they should achieve such particular values.

I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them. happiness

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives. politics

Unquestionably, it is possible to do without happiness it is done involuntarily by nineteen-twentieths of mankind. happiness

Popular opinions, on subjects not palpable to sense, are often true, but seldom or never the whole truth. truth

The general tendency of things throughout the world is to render mediocrity the ascendant power among mankind. power

Pleasure and freedom from pain, are the only things desirable as ends. freedom

The most cogent reason for restricting the interference of government is the great evil of adding unnecessarily to its power. government & power

It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day's toil of any human being. technology

The individual is not accountable to society for his actions in so far as these concern the interests of no person but himself. society

Life has a certain flavor for those who have fought and risked all that the sheltered and protected can never experience. experience

There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be realized until personal experience has brought it home. experience & home