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
Create 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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of actively contributing to the happiness of others while alleviating their suffering.
Jeremy Bentham's quote highlights the moral obligation of individuals to create happiness and reduce suffering in the lives of those around them. It suggests that each day presents opportunities to foster joy or relieve pain, thereby underscoring our agency in influencing the well-being of others and the communal responsibility we share in promoting happiness within society.
Themes
HappinessCreateMiseryPleasureOthers
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about community service.
More from Jeremy Bentham
All quotes →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
Without publicity, no good is permanent; under the auspices of publicity, no evil can continue.
Jeremy BenthamRead
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That man lives happy and in command of himself, who from day to day can say I have lived. Whether clouds obscure, or the sun illumines the following day, that which is past is beyond recall.
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