Herbert Spencer Quotes
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Old forms of government finally grow so oppressive that they must be thrown off even at the risk of reigns of terror.
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The greatest of all infidelities is the fear that the truth will be bad.
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Ethical ideas and sentiments have to be considered as parts of the phenomena of life at large. We have to deal with man as a product of evolution, with society as a product of evolution, and with moral phenomena as products of evolution.
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If men were wise they would see that the affection that God has implanted in us is amply sufficient, when not weakened by artificial aid, to ensure permanence of union; and if they would have more faith in this all would go well. To tie together by human law what God has tied together by passion, is about as wise as it would be to chain the moon to the earth lest the natural attraction existing between them should not be sufficient to prevent them flying asunder.
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Education is preparation to live completely.
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We do not commonly see in a tax a diminution of freedom, and yet it clearly is one.
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The chief arguments that are urged against an established religion, may be used with equal force against an established charity. The dissenter submits, that no party has a right to compel him to contribute to the support of doctrines, which do not meet his approbation. The rate-payer may as reasonably argue, that no one is justified in forcing him to subscribe towards the maintenance of persons, whom he does not consider deserving of relief.
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Noiseless falls the foot of time That only treads on flowers.
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There can be little question that good composition is far less dependent upon acquaintance with its laws, than upon practice and natural aptitude. A clear head, a quick imagination, and a sensitive ear, will go far towards making all rhetorical precepts needless.
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The defects of the children mirror the defects of the parents.
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The cruelty of a Fijian god, who, represented as devouring the souls of the dead, may be supposed to inflict torture during the process, is small compared with the cruelty of a God who condemns men to tortures which are eternal.
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Government is essentially immoral. The State employs evil weapons to subjugate evil, and is alike contaminated by the objects with which it deals, and the means by which it works.
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Evil perpetually tends to disappear.
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The "Creed of Christendom" is alien to my nature, both emotional and intellectual.
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Truth generally lies in the coordination of antagonistic opinions.
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Absolute morality is the regulation of conduct in such a way that pain shall not be inflicted.
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All socialism involves slavery.... That which fundamentally distinguishes the slave is that he labors under coercion to satisfy another's desires. The relation admits of many gradations. Oppressive taxation is a form of slavery of the individual to the community as a whole. The essential question is -- How much is he compelled to labor for other benefit than his own, and how much can he labor for his own benefit?
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Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a necessity…It is a part of nature.
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Religion is the recognition that all things are manifestations of a Power which transcends our knowledge.
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Religion has been compelled by science to give up one after another of its dogmas. . . .
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Marriage: a ceremony in which rings are put on the finger of the lady and through the nose of the gentleman.
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The most important attribute of man as a moral being is the faculty of self-control.
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The universal basis of co-operation is the proportioning of benefits received to services rendered.
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When men hire themselves out to shoot other men to order, asking nothing about the justice of their cause, I don't care if they are shot themselves.