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
The world is all alike. Those that seem better than their neighbours are only more artful. They mean the same thing, though they take a different road.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People may appear different or superior to others, but fundamentally, they are all the same despite their varied approaches.
This quote suggests that while individuals might seem more talented or skilled than others, it is often just a matter of presentation and craftiness. Ultimately, everyone shares the same human experience and intentions, regardless of the different paths they take in life.
Themes
Human ExperienceAppearanceSimilarityArtfulnessIndividuality
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on equality, this quote can be used to highlight the shared human experience.
More from William Godwin
All quotes βIt 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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