Herbert Spencer Quotes
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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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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.
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The most important attribute of man as a moral being is the faculty of self-control.
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Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded.
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The preservation of health is a duty. Few seem conscious that there is such a thing as physical morality.
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Thus poetry, regarded as a vehicle of thought, is especially impressive partly because it obeys all the laws of effective speech, and partly because in so doing it imitates the natural utterances of excitement.
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In societies of low civilization, there is no money.
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Morality knows nothing of geographical boundaries, or distinctions of race.
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If a single cell, under appropriate conditions, becomes a man in the space of a few years, there can surely be no difficulty in understanding how, under appropriate conditions, a cell may, in the course of untold millions of years, give origin to the human race.
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Never educate a child to be a gentleman or lady alone, but to be a man, a woman.
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Hero-worship is strongest where there is least regard for human freedom.
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People are beginning to see that the first requisite to success in life is to be a good animal.
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Religion is the recognition that all things are manifestations of a Power which transcends our knowledge.
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If every man has freedom to do all that he wills, provided he infringes not the equal freedom of any other man, then he is free to drop connection with the state-to relinquish its protection, and to refuse paying toward its support.
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Life is not for learning nor is life for working, but learning and working are for life.
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There is no origin for the idea of an afterlife, save the conclusion which the savage draws from the notion suggested by dreams.
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The existence of a first cause of the universe is a necessity of thought ... Amid the mysteries which become more mysterious the more they are thought about, there will remain the one absolute certainty that we are over in the presence of an Infinite, Eternal Energy from which all things proceed.
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Unlike private enterprise which quickly modifies its actions to meet emergencies - unlike the shopkeeper who promptly finds the wherewith to satisfy a sudden demand - unlike the railway company which doubles its trains to carry a special influx of passengers; the law-made instrumentality lumbers on under all varieties of circumstances at its habitual rate. By its very nature it is fitted only for average requirements, and inevitably fails under unusual requirements.
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A nation's institutions and beliefs are determined by it's character.
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We too often forget that not only is there 'a soul of goodness in things evil,' but very generally also, a soul of truth in things erroneous.
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Every cause produces more than one effect.
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If they are sufficiently complete to live, they do live, and it is well they should live. If they are not sufficiently complete to live, they die, and it is best they should die.
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In assuming any office besides its essential one, the State begins to lose the power of fulfilling its essential one.
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The tyrant is nothing but a slave turned inside out.