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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.

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
Capacity
General
Duty
Constitutes
Possible
Mode
Individual
Application
Action
Benefit
Part
Best
Benefits

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The lessons of their early youth regulated the conduct of their riper years.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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The wise man is satisfied with nothing.
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The diligent scholar is he that loves himself, and desires to have reason to applaud and love himself.
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There must be room for the imagination to exercise its powers we must conceive and apprehend a thousand things which we do not actually witness.
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Power is not happiness.
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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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Revolutions are the produce of passion, not of sober and tranquil reason.
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Books gratify and excite our curiosity in innumerable ways.
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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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If he who employs coercion against me could mould me to his purposes by argument, no doubt he would. He pretends to punish me because his argument is strong but he really punishes me because his argument is weak.
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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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Justice is the sum of all moral duty.
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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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He that revels in a well-chosen library, has innumerable dishes, and all of admirable flavour.
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