There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that principle is contempt prior to investigation.
Herbert SpencerRead
The society exists for the benefit of its members; not its members for the benefit of the society.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that a society should serve its members rather than the other way around.
Herbert Spencer's quote highlights the fundamental principle that the purpose of society is to enhance the lives of its individuals. It challenges the notion that individuals should sacrifice their well-being for the benefit of the collective, instead advocating for a society that prioritizes the needs and growth of its members, thereby promoting a more harmonious and equitable social structure.
Themes
SocietyBenefitMembersWell-BeingPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community service, one might say, 'As Herbert Spencer noted, the society exists for the benefit of its members; we must work together to support each other.'
More from Herbert Spencer
All quotes βNo one can be perfectly free till all are free; no one can be perfectly moral till all are moral; no one can be perfectly happy till all are happy.
Herbert SpencerRead
That feelings of love and hate make rational judgments impossible in public affairs, as in private affairs, we can clearly enough see in others, though not so clearly in ourselves.
Herbert SpencerRead
Be it or be it not true that Man is shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin, it is unquestionably true that Government is begotten of aggression, and by aggression.
Herbert SpencerRead
Organs, faculties, powers, capacities, or whatever else we call them; grow by use and diminish from disuse, it is inferred that they will continue to do so. And if this inference is unquestionable, then is the one above deduced from it-that humanity must in the end become completely adapted to its conditions-unquestionable also. Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a necessity.
Herbert SpencerRead
This survival of the fittest implies multiplication of the fittest.
Herbert SpencerRead
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