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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.

William Godwin

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William Godwin
Age: 80 †
Born: 1756
Born: March 3
Died: 1836
Died: April 7
Journalist
Novelist
Philosopher
Political Philosopher
Science Fiction Writer
Writer
Wisbech
Cambridgeshire
Conscience
Judgment
Mankind
Forget
Upon
Usurpation
Evil
Anarchist
Individual
Judgement
Government
Private

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The subtleties of mathematics defecate the grossness of our apprehension, and supply the elements of a sounder and severer logic.
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A celebrated north country apostle, who, after Calvin had damned ninety-nine in a hundred of mankind, had contrived a scheme for damning ninety-nine in a hundred of the followers of Calvin.
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The great model of the affection of love in human beings is the sentiment which subsists between parents and children.
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Duty is that mode of action on the part of the individual which constitutes the best possible application of his capacity to the general benefit.
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The proper method for hastening the decay of error, is not, by brute force, or by regulation which is one of the classes of force, to endeavour to reduce men to intellectual uniformity but on the contrary by teaching every man to think for himself.
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The philosophy of the wisest man that ever existed, is mainly derived from the act of introspection.
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Power is not happiness.
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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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Perfectibility is one of the most unequivocal characteristics of the human species.
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We are so curiously made that one atom put in the wrong place in our original structure will often make us unhappy for life.
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What indeed is life, unless so far as it is enjoyed? It does not merit the name.
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Every man has a certain sphere of discretion which he has a right to expect shall not be infringed by his neighbours. This right flows from the very nature of man.
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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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Whenever government assumes to deliver us from the trouble of thinking for ourselves, the only consequences it produces are those of torpor and imbecility.
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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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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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There can be no passion, and by consequence no love, where there is not imagination.
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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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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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