William Godwin Quotes
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Man is the only creature we know, that, when the term of his natural life is ended, leaves the memory of himself behind him.
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The most desirable mode of education, is that which is careful that all the acquisitions of the pupil shall be preceded and accompanied by desire . . . The boy, like the man, studies because he desires it. He proceeds upon a plan of is own invention, or by which, by adopting, he has made his own. Everything bespeaks independence and inequality.
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Obey; this may be right; but beware of reverence.... Government is nothing but regulated force; force is its appropriate claim upon your attention. It is the business of individuals to persuade; the tendency of concentrated strength, is only to give consistency and permanence to an influence more compendious than persuasion.
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Revolution is engendered by an indignation with tyranny, yet is itself pregnant with tyranny.... An attempt to scrutinize men's thoughts and punish their opinions is of all kinds of despotism the most odious: yet this is peculiarly character of a period of revolution.... There is no period more at war with the existence of liberty.
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But the watchful care of the parent is endless. The youth is never free from the danger of grating interference.
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Power is not happiness. Security and peace are more to be desired than a name at which nations tremble.
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Study with desire is real activity; without desire it is but the semblance and mockery of activity.
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To conceive that compulsion and punishment are the proper means of reformation is the sentiment of a barbarian.
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Above all we should not forget, that government is an evil, an usurpation upon the private judgment and individual conscience of mankind.
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The virtue of a human being is the application of his capacity to the general good.
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Books are the depositary of everything that is most honourable to man.
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Of Belief Human mathematics, so to speak, like the length of life, are subject to the doctrine of chances.
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The proper method for hastening the decay of error is by teaching every man to think for himself.
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If admiration were not generally deemed the exclusive property of the rich, and contempt the constant lackey of poverty, the love of gain would cease to be an universal problem.
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Revolutions are the produce of passion, not of sober and tranquil reason.
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The execution of any thing considerable implies in the first place previous persevering meditation.
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Power is not happiness.
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Literature, taken in all its bearings, forms the grand line of demarcation between the human and the animal kingdoms.
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It is probable that there is no one thing that it is of eminent importance for a child to learn.
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In a well-written book we are presented with the maturest reflections, or the happiest flights of a mind of uncommon excellence. It is impossible that we can be much accustomed to such companions without attaining some resemblance to them.
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We cannot perform our tasks to the best of our power, unless we think well of our own capacity.
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Make men wise, and by that very operation you make them free. Civil liberty follows as a consequence of this; no usurped power can stand against the artillery of opinion.
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He has no right to his life when his duty calls him to resign it. Other men are bound ... to deprive him of life or liberty, if that should appear in any case to be indispensably necessary to prevent a greater evil.
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The cause of justice is the cause of humanity. Its advocates should overflow with universal good will. We should love this cause, for it conduces to the general happiness of mankind.