John Stuart Mill Quotes
British philosopher, political theorist, political economist, civil servant
John Stuart Mill served as a Member of Parliament. He was considered an influential classical liberal thinker of the 19th century. His notable ideas include public/private sphere, hierarchy of pleasures in Utilitarianism, liberalism, early liberal feminism, first system of inductive logic, harm principle.
| Full Name | John Stuart Mill |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | December 31, 1969 |
| Place of Birth | Pentonville, London, England |
| Influenced | William James, John Rawls, Robert Nozick, Bertrand Russell, Karl Popper, Ronald Dworkin, H.L.A. Hart, Peter Singer, Wilhelm Dilthey, Paul Feyerabend, Zechariah Chafee, John Maynard Keynes, Will Kymlicka, Carlos Vaz Ferreira |
| Date of death | December 31, 1969 |
| Place of death | Avignon, France |
| Era | 19th-century philosophy, Classical economics |
| Region | Western Philosophy |
| School | Empiricism, utilitarianism, liberalism |
| Main Interests | Political philosophy, ethics, economics, inductive logic |
| Notable Ideas | public/private sphere, hierarchy of pleasures in Utilitarianism, liberalism, early liberal feminism, harm principle, Mill's Methods |
| Influenced by | Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Aquinas, Hobbes, Locke, Bentham, Francis Place, James Mill, Harriet Taylor Mill, Smith, Ricardo, Tocqueville, von Humboldt, Goethe, Coleridge, Saint-Simon (Utopian Socialists) |
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The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental or spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.
— John Stuart Mill
No one can be a great thinker who does not recognize that as a thinker it is his first duty to follow his intellect to whatever conclusions it may lead. Truth gains more even by the errors of one who, with due study, and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think.
— John Stuart Mill
He who lets the world, or his own portion of it, choose his plan of life for him, has no need of any other faculty than the ape-like one of imitation. He who chooses his plan for himself, employs all his faculties. He must use observation to see, reasoning and judgment to foresee, activity to gather materials for decision, discrimination to decide, and when he has decided, firmness and self-control to hold to his deliberate decision.
— John Stuart Mill
The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant.
— John Stuart Mill
Over one's mind and over one's body the individual is sovereign.
— John Stuart Mill
Everyone who receives the protection of society owes a return for the benefit.
— John Stuart Mill
Next to selfishness the principal cause which makes life unsatisfactory is want of mental cultivation.
— John Stuart Mill
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
— John Stuart Mill
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