Make men wise, and by that very operation you make them free. Civil liberty follows as a consequence of this; no usurped power can stand against the artillery of opinion.
William GodwinRead
We cannot do justice to the deeds of former times if we do not in some degree remove ourselves from the circumstances in which we stand and substitute those by which the real actors were surrounded.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Understanding historical actions requires us to step outside our current perspectives and consider the contexts of the past.
William Godwin emphasizes the importance of understanding the historical context when evaluating the actions of individuals from previous eras. He suggests that true justice in judgment comes only when we detach ourselves from our contemporary circumstances and immerse ourselves in the environments where those historical figures lived, thereby gaining a clearer understanding of their motivations and actions.
Themes
HistoryContextJusticeUnderstandingEvaluation
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about historical figures, one might say: 'As William Godwin pointed out, we cannot do justice to the deeds of former times if we overlook their contexts.'
More from William Godwin
All quotes →It is one of the oldest maxims of moral prudence: Do not, by aspiring to what is impracticable, lose the opportunity of doing the good you can effect!
William GodwinRead
When the calamity we feared is already arrived, or when the expectation of it is so certain as to shut out hope, there seems to be a principle within us by which we look with misanthropic composure on the state to which we are reduced, and the heart sullenly contracts and accommodates itself to what it most abhorred.
William GodwinRead
He has no right to his life when his duty calls him to resign it. Other men are bound... to deprive him of life or liberty, if that should appear in any case to be indispensably necessary to prevent a greater evil.
William GodwinRead
What are gold and jewels and precious utensils? Mere dross and dirt. The human face and the human heart, reciprocations of kindness and love, and all the nameless sympathies of our nature - these are the only objects worth being attached to.
William GodwinRead
Extraordinary circumstances often bring along with them extraordinary strength. No man knows, till the experiment, what he is capable of effecting.
William GodwinRead
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