William Godwin Quotes
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As the true object of education is not to render the pupil the mere copy of his preceptor, it is rather to be rejoiced in, than lamented, that various reading should lead him into new trains of thinking.
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He that loves reading has everything within his reach.
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Revolutions are the produce of passion, not of sober and tranquil reason.
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Books are the depositary of everything that is most honourable to man.
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Whenever truth stands in the mind unaccompanied by the evidence upon which it depends, it cannot properly be said to be apprehended at all.
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Perseverance is an active principle, and cannot continue to operate but under the influence of desire.
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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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The virtue of a human being is the application of his capacity to the general good.
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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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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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Of Belief Human mathematics, so to speak, like the length of life, are subject to the doctrine of chances.
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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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The execution of any thing considerable implies in the first place previous persevering meditation.
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Our judgment will always suspect those weapons that can be used with equal prospect of success on both sides.
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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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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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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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Power is not happiness.
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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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Government will not fail to employ education, to strengthen its hands and perpetuate its institutions.
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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.
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As long as parents and teachers in general shall fall under the established rule, it is clear that politics and modes of government will educate and infect us all. They poison our minds, before we can resist, or so much as suspect their malignity. Like the barbarous directors of the Eastern seraglios, they deprive us of our vitality, and fit us for their despicable employment from the cradle.
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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 lessons of their early youth regulated the conduct of their riper years.