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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.

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
Constant
Exclusive
Universal
Admiration
Poverty
Contempt
Rich
Gain
Problem
Cease
Would
Generally
Lackey
Love
Gains
Lackeys
Property
Deemed

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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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Power is not happiness.
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Self-respect to be nourished in the mind of the pupil, is one of the most valuable results of a well conducted education.
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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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Perseverance is an active principle, and cannot continue to operate but under the influence of desire.
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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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The virtue of a human being is the application of his capacity to the general good.
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Everything that is usually understood by the term co-operation is, in some degree, an evil.
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Hereditary wealth is in reality a premium paid to idleness.
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All education is despotism. It is perhaps impossible for the young to be conducted without introducing in many cases the tyranny implicit in obedience. Go there do that read write rise lie down - will perhaps forever be the language addressed to youth by age.
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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 execution of any thing considerable implies in the first place previous persevering meditation.
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There is no sphere in which a human being can be supposed to act where one mode of reasoning will not, in every given instance, be more reasonable than any other mode. That mode the being is bound by every principle of justice to pursue.
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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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Justice is the sum of all moral duty.
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Government can have no more than two legitimate purposes - the suppression of injustice against individuals within the community, and the common defense against external invasion.
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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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Books gratify and excite our curiosity in innumerable ways.
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The wise man is satisfied with nothing.
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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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