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The subtleties of mathematics defecate the grossness of our apprehension, and supply the elements of a sounder and severer logic.

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
Subtleties
Subtlety
Apprehension
Supply
Statistics
Logic
Mathematics
Grossness
Elements
Sounder

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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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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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If there be such a thing as truth, it must infallibly be struck out by the collision of mind with mind.
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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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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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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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Of Belief Human mathematics, so to speak, like the length of life, are subject to the doctrine of chances.
William Godwin
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Everything that is usually understood by the term co-operation is, in some degree, an evil.
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Learning is the ally, not the adversary of genius... he who reads in a proper spirit, can scarcely read too much.
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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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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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It is absurd to expect the inclinations and wishes of two human beings to coincide, through any long period of time. To oblige them to act and live together is to subject them to some inevitable potion of thwarting, bickering, and unhappiness.
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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 cases where every thing is understood, and measured, and reduced to rule, love is out of the question.
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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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The first duty of man is to take none of the principles of conduct upon trust to do nothing without a clear and individual conviction that it is right to be done.
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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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Let us not, in the eagerness of our haste to educate, forget all the ends of education.
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The execution of any thing considerable implies in the first place previous persevering meditation.
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