Quotes from On Liberty and Other Essays

“Protection, therefore, against tyranny of the magistrate is not enough: there needs protection also against the tyranny of the prevailing opinion and feeling; against the tendency of society to impose, by other means than civil penalties, its own ideas and practices as rules of conduct on those who dissent from them; to fetter the development, and, if possible, prevent the formation, of any individuality not in harmony with its ways, and compel all characters to fashion themselves upon the model of its own.”
― John Stuart Mill, quote from On Liberty and Other Essays

“But reflecting persons perceived that when society is itself the tyrant—society collectively, over the separate individuals who compose it—its means of tyrannizing are not restricted to the acts which it may do by the hands of its political functionaries. Society can and does execute its own mandates: and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with which it ought not to meddle, it practises a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself.”
― John Stuart Mill, quote from On Liberty and Other Essays

“On the average, a person who cares for other people, for his country, or for mankind, is a happier man than one who does not; but of what use is it to preach this doctrine to a man who cares for nothing but his own ease, or his own pocket? He cannot care for other people if he would. It is like preaching to the worm who crawls on the ground, how much better it would be for him if he were an eagle.”
― John Stuart Mill, quote from On Liberty and Other Essays

“Governments must be made for human beings as they are, or as they are capable of speedily becoming.”
― John Stuart Mill, quote from On Liberty and Other Essays

“is the absolute and essential importance of human development in its richest diversity.”
― John Stuart Mill, quote from On Liberty and Other Essays

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“وفي لحظة من الزمن رأى الحياة الإنسانية من أعلى كما يراها نسر، بدلاً من أن ينظر إليها نظرة اعتيادية، فكلّما نظر الإنسان إلى الحياة على أنّها صورة _سواء أكان شاعراً أم عالماً أم رجل دولة_ كانت النتيجة شعور عظيم بالشجاعة ونظرة إلى ماهية الحياة ومعنى الارتقاء البشري. عند هذه النقطة من التاريخ، وتماماً كما هو الحال عندما قام العقل البشري بقفزته الارتقائية الهائلة إلى الأمام _حيث الارتقاء يتقدم دوماً في قفزات وكأنّه إلكترون يقفز من مدار إلى آخر_ فإنّ طفيليات العقل تضرب بقوة، وحَمَلَتُها ماكرون وبعيدو النظر ما أتاح لها الاستمرار في استغلال العقول الرئيسة على كوكبنا. وقد أبعد تولستوي هذه الحقيقة في الحرب والسلم عندما أعلن أنّ الأفراد يلعبون دوراً ضئيلاً في التاريخ وأنّهم كانوا يسيرون سيراً آلياً. فجميع أبطال الحرب النابوليونية كانوا يحركون بآلية إذ كاوا مجرد رقع شطرنج في أيدي طفيليات العقل. وقد لقي العلماء التشجيع ليصبحوا ماديين وعقائديين وكان ذلك عبر منحهم شعوراً عميقاً بالافتقار إلى الأمان الذي جعلهم يتشبثون بقوة بفكرة العلم باعتباره معرفة موضوعية خالصة، تماماً كما حاولت طفيليات العقل تحويل أنظار وايزمان نحو المشاكل الرياضية والشطرنج. وقد جرى التحكم في الفنانين والكتّاب تحكماً ماكراً. ولعل طفيليات العقل نظرت بوجل إلى العمالقة من أمثال بتهوفن وغوتيه وشلي وأدركت أنّ حفنة من هؤلاء الرجال من شأنها أن تضع الإنسان على عتبة جديدة من مراحل الارتقاء. لهذا أصيب شومان وهولدرلن بالجنون، وبينما أدمن هوفمان تناوب الشراب. أما كولرج ودي كونسي فقد أدمنا تعاطي المخدرات. لقد كان تدمير العباقرة تدميراً شاملاً وكأنّهم ذباب. ولهذا فليس هناك ما يدعو إلى العجب من شعور الفنانين الكبار في القرن التاسع عشر إنّ العالم كان يقف ضدهم. كما ليس هناك ما يدعو إلى العجب أنّ محاولة نيتشه الشجاعة في دقّ طبول التفاؤل عالجتها ضربة من الجنون.”
― Colin Wilson, quote from The Mind Parasites

“Worst of all were the accolades and thanks from people "for what you guys did over there." Thanks for what, I wanted to ask—shooting kids, cowering in terror behind a berm, dropping artillery on people's homes?”
― quote from One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer

“يا إلهنا العزيز، ارحم رجالاً أنفقوا أعمارهم في تخيل الأشياء!!”
― José Saramago, quote from The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“One of the things is that in times of severe disorder, you can't worry about the dead, only the living.”
― Darren Shan, quote from Demon Thief

“A fellow told me one about Wembley yesterday," I said, to help on the cheery flow of conversation. "Stop me if you've heard it before. Chap goes up to deaf chap outside the exhibition and says, "Is this Wembley?" "Hey?" says deaf chap. "Is this Wembley?" says chap. "Hey?" says deaf chap. "Is this Wembley?" says chap. "No, Thursday," says deaf chap. Ha, ha, I mean, what?"
The merry laughter froze on my lips. Sir Roderick sort of just waggled an eyebrow in my direction and I saw that it was back to the basket for Bertram. I never met a man who had such a knack of making a fellow feel like a waste-product.”
― P.G. Wodehouse, quote from Carry on, Jeeves

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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

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