He who thinks and thinks for himself, will always have a claim to thanks; it is no matter whether it be right or wrong, so as it be explicit. If it is right, it will serve as a guide to direct; if wrong, as a beacon to warn.
Jeremy BenthamRead
The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Morality and laws should prioritize the happiness of the majority.
This quote by Jeremy Bentham emphasizes the principle of utilitarianism, suggesting that the best action or law is the one that produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. It underlines the idea that both morality and legislation should be guided by their consequences on collective well-being, making societal happiness a paramount concern.
Themes
HappinessMoralsLegislationUtilitarianismGreatest Number
In practice
Example use cases
This quote may be used in a political debate to highlight the importance of policies that serve the majority.
More from Jeremy Bentham
All quotes βCreate all the happiness you are able to create; remove all the misery you are able to remove. Every day will allow you, --will invite you to add something to the pleasure of others, --or to diminish something of their pains.
Jeremy BenthamRead
Nature has placed mankind under the government of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure... they govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think: every effort we can make to throw off our subjection, will serve but to demonstrate and confirm it.
Jeremy BenthamRead
Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do.
Jeremy BenthamRead
It is the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong.
Jeremy BenthamRead
Tyranny and anarchy are never far apart.
Jeremy BenthamRead
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Human manners are wildly inconsistent; plenty of people have said so. But this one takes the cake: the manner in which we're allowed to steal from future generations, while commanding them not to do that to us, and rolling our eyes at anyone who is tediously PC enough to point that out. The conspicious consumption of limited resources has yet to be accepted widely as a spirtual error, or even bad manners.
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There is no shortcut to holiness; it must be the business of our whole lives.
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Whatever men expect, they soon come to think they have a right to; the sense of disappointment can, with very little skill on our part, be turned into a sense of injury. (senior devil speaking)
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If the Universe came to an end every time there was some uncertainty about what had happened in it, it would never have got beyond the first picosecond. And many of course don't. It's like a human body, you see. A few cuts and bruises here and there don't hurt it. Not even major surgery if it's done properly. Paradoxes are just the scar tissue. Time and space heal themselves up around them and people simply remember a version of events which makes as much sense as they require it to make.
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