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
Power is not happiness. Security and peace are more to be desired than a name at which nations tremble.
Interpretation
True fulfillment comes from inner peace and security rather than external power.
This quote by William Godwin highlights the distinction between power and genuine happiness. It suggests that while power may command respect and fear, what we truly seek for a fulfilling life are qualities like security and peace. Godwin reminds us that the essence of happiness lies not in the dominance over others but in a tranquil and stable existence.
In practice
In a discussion about leadership styles, I might say, 'As William Godwin once said, power is not happiness; rather, security and peace are what truly matter.'
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Extraordinary circumstances often bring along with them extraordinary strength. No man knows, till the experiment, what he is capable of effecting.
Men say they only learn this but he said that no creature can learn that which his heart has no shape to hold.
Tell the truth. Sing with passion. Work with laughter. Love with heart. 'Cause that's all that matters in the end.
Very few men are wise by their own council, or learned by their own teaching. For he that was only taught by himself, had a fool for a master.
The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much; if he is an optimist after it, he knows too little.
You want to cry aloud for your mistakes. But to tell the truth the world doesn't need any more of that sound.
Which is why I am writing this book. To think. To understand. It just happens to be the way I'm made. I have to write things down to feel I fully comprehend them.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.