There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that principle is contempt prior to investigation.
Herbert SpencerRead
The question of questions for the politicians should ever be-What type of social structure am I tending to produce? But this is a question he never entertains.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Politicians should consider the societal impact of their actions instead of pursuing power blindly.
Herbert Spencer emphasizes that politicians must reflect on the social structures their decisions and policies create. He criticizes those who do not take this essential question into account, suggesting that a lack of introspection leads to detrimental societal outcomes.
Themes
PoliticsSocialStructureReflectionSociety
In practice
Example use cases
During a political debate, one might use this quote to challenge opponents on their policies.
More from Herbert Spencer
All quotes βNo one can be perfectly free till all are free; no one can be perfectly moral till all are moral; no one can be perfectly happy till all are happy.
Herbert SpencerRead
That feelings of love and hate make rational judgments impossible in public affairs, as in private affairs, we can clearly enough see in others, though not so clearly in ourselves.
Herbert SpencerRead
Be it or be it not true that Man is shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin, it is unquestionably true that Government is begotten of aggression, and by aggression.
Herbert SpencerRead
Organs, faculties, powers, capacities, or whatever else we call them; grow by use and diminish from disuse, it is inferred that they will continue to do so. And if this inference is unquestionable, then is the one above deduced from it-that humanity must in the end become completely adapted to its conditions-unquestionable also. Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a necessity.
Herbert SpencerRead
This survival of the fittest implies multiplication of the fittest.
Herbert SpencerRead
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