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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Human actions are driven by the dual forces of pain and pleasure.
In this quote, Jeremy Bentham suggests that the motivations behind human behavior are largely influenced by the experiences of pleasure and pain. He posits that regardless of our attempts to resist these influences, they ultimately control our thoughts, words, and actions, highlighting the inevitability of their governance in our lives.
Themes
PainPleasureHuman BehaviorMotivationPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech, one might use the quote to illustrate how our choices are fundamentally driven by seeking pleasure and avoiding pain.
More from Jeremy Bentham
All quotes →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.
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
Similar quotes
We believe in resolving all disputes peacefully.
Atal Bihari VajpayeeRead
Race and class are rendered distinct analytically only to produce the realization that the analysis of the one cannot proceed without the other. A different dynamic it seems to me is at work in the critique of new sexuality studies.
Judith ButlerRead
You fall out of your mother's womb, you crawl across open country under fire, and drop into your grave.
Quentin CrispRead
The deeper the experience of an absence of meaning - in other words, of absurdity - the more energetically meaning is sought.
Vaclav HavelRead
What I say about myself, black footballers or black pop stars is that we have been 'elevated out of blackness.' Because when people see us, they don't see us as being black. These are the issues that we should address.
John BarnesRead
Less glory is more liberty. When the drum is silent, reason sometimes speaks.
Albert PikeRead