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
Without publicity, no good is permanent; under the auspices of publicity, no evil can continue.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Publicity plays a crucial role in maintaining good and preventing evil actions from lasting.
Jeremy Bentham highlights the significance of publicity in society, suggesting that good deeds are often temporary if not recognized and publicized, whereas evil actions cannot persist under the scrutiny of public awareness. This underscores the power of transparency and accountability in shaping moral and ethical standards.
Themes
PublicityGoodEvilTransparencyAccountability
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about corporate ethics, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of transparency in business practices.
More from Jeremy Bentham
All quotes βCreate 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 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
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Act in the moment, live in the present, slowly slowly don't allow the past to interfere And you will be surprised that life is such an eternal wonder, such a mysterious phenomenon and such a great gift that one simply feels constantly in gratitude. So this is my message for you: live in the moment, herenow. That's why I call it divine purity
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Neither science, nor the politics in power, nor the mass media, nor business, nor the law nor even the military are in a position to define or control risks rationally.
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Thinking about death makes you analyse what life is. Anxiety makes you curious, and curiosity leads to understanding. I wouldn't be a writer without depression.
Matt HaigRead
All discourse of which others cannot partake is not only an irksome usurpation of the time devoted to pleasure and entertainment, but, what never fails to excite resentment, an insolent assertion of superiority, and a triumph over less enlightened understandings. The pedant is, therefore, not only heard with weariness but malignity; and those who conceive themselves insulted by his knowledge never fail to tell with acrimony how injudiciously it was exerted.
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Laws to protect 'public health' are potentially infinite, especially once they no longer have to be supported by any research whatsoever.
Lionel ShriverRead