QuoteProject
Among the facts of the universe to be accounted for, it may be said, is Mind; and it is self evident that nothing can have produced Mind but Mind.
John Stuart Mill
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote discusses the nature of the mind and its relationship to existence, asserting that only a mind can produce another mind.

John Stuart Mill reflects on the nature of existence, specifically the mind's role within the universe. He posits that the mind is a fundamental aspect of reality, suggesting that it cannot be created by anything other than another mind, thus emphasizing the importance of consciousness and thought as integral components of our understanding of the universe.

Themes

MindExistencePhilosophyConsciousnessThought

In practice

Example use cases

During a philosophy lecture, to illustrate the importance of consciousness.

More from John Stuart Mill

The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.
John Stuart MillRead
As for charity, it is a matter in which the immediate effect on the persons directly concerned, and the ultimate consequence to the general good, are apt to be at complete war with one another.
John Stuart MillRead
To think that because those who wield power in society wield in the end that of government, therefore it is of no use to attempt to influence the constitution of the government by acting on opinion, is to forget that opinion is itself one of the greatest active social forces. One person with a belief is a social power equal to ninety-nine who have only interests.
John Stuart MillRead
There should be perfect freedom, legal and social, to do the action and stand the consequences. It would be a great misunderstanding of this doctrine to suppose that it is one of selfish indifference, which pretends that human beings have no business with each other's conduct in life, and that they should not concern themselves about the well-doing or well-being of one another, unless their own interest is involved.
John Stuart MillRead
Political Economy, in truth, has never pretended to give advice to mankind with no lights but its own; though people who knew nothing but political economy (and therefore knew it ill) have taken upon themselves to advise, and could only do so by such lights as they had.
John Stuart MillRead
Marriage is the only actual bondage known to our law. There remain no legal slaves, except the mistress of every house.
John Stuart MillRead

Similar quotes

This is a nation that has lost the ability to be self-critical, and that makes a lie out of the freedoms.
Joni MitchellRead
The ulterior motives with which you absorb and assimilate Evil are not your own but those of Evil. _x000D_ The animal wrests the whip from its master and whips itself in order to become master, not knowing that this is only a fantasy produced by a new knot in the master's whiplash.
Franz KafkaRead
The whole life is a succession of dreams. My ambition is to be a conscious dreamer, that is all.
Swami VivekanandaRead
Young men make wars, and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men: courage, and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace, and the vices of peace are the vices of old men: mistrust and caution.
Alec GuinnessRead
So our human life but dies down to its root, and still puts forth its green blade to eternity.
Henry David ThoreauRead
We are travelers on a cosmic journey,stardust,swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.
Paulo CoelhoRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.