Opening the book…
Opening the book…
Fairness, responsibility, and responding to wrongs.
“Describe a moment when something felt unfair — to you, or that you witnessed. What did you do, and what do you believe now about fairness?”
Related passages from different traditions. Read them together, or follow a question that interests you.
Each person deserves fair treatment, basic provision, and to be regarded as an end rather than a tool.
36 passages · 8 traditions
When you go abroad, to behave to every one as if you were receiving a great guest; to employ the people as if you were assisting at a great sacrifice; not to do to others as you would not wish done to yourself.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 12.2, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
He who seeking his own happiness punishes or kills beings who also long for happiness, will not find happiness after death.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 10.v.131, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
He sees indeed who sees in all alike The living, lordly Soul; the Soul Supreme, Imperishable amid the Perishing: For, whoso thus beholds, in every place, In every form, the same, one, Living Life, Doth no more wrongfulness unto himself, But goes the highest road which brings to bliss.
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 13, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, James 1:27, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Yet he attempted not the steep. And who shall teach thee what the steep is? It is to ransom the captive, Or to feed in the day of famine, The orphan who is near of kin, or the poor that lieth in the dust.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 90-80.90:11-16, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
The Brahman with his scrolls and sanctities, The cow, the elephant, the unclean dog, The Outcast gorging dog's meat, are all one.
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 5, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
Actions carry inescapable consequences — every deed, good or evil, returns to its author with exact weight.
38 passages · 10 traditions
In like manner his good works receive him who has done good, and has gone from this world to the other;--as kinsmen receive a friend on his return.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 16.v.220, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
If a man offend a harmless, pure, and innocent person, the evil falls back upon that fool, like light dust thrown up against the wind.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 9.v.125, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
keep a distance from an evil neighbor, do not become attached to the wicked, and do not abandon faith in [divine] retribution.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 1:7, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
An action is just only if the principle behind it could rightly govern all people equally — the moral test of universality.
28 passages · 5 traditions
We cannot be bound beyond what we are able to perform, by reason that effect and performance are not at all in our power, and that, indeed, we are masters of nothing but the will, in which, by necessity, all the rules and whole duty of mankind are founded and established.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Chapter VII, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 2.24, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 14.36, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Every one ought to make the same vow to himself that the kings of Egypt made their judges solemnly swear, that they would not do anything contrary to their consciences, though never so much commanded to it by themselves.
Those who hold power are bound by justice, and institutions that punish without fairness or educate without freedom betray their purpose.
36 passages · 9 traditions
In causes of life and death, judges ought (as far as the law permitteth) in justice to remember mercy; and to cast a severe eye upon the example, but a merciful eye upon the person.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Judicature, 1625 ↗
There will never be a really free and enlightened State, until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.
— Transcendentalism · Henry David Thoreau, Walden, and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Civil Disobedience, 1854 ↗
Nothing doth more hurt in a state, than that cunning men pass for wise.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Cunning, 1625 ↗
The virtuous prince does not neglect his relations. He does not cause the great ministers to repine at his not employing them. Without some great cause, he does not dismiss from their offices the members of old families. He does not seek in one man talents for every employment.
Riches withheld from those in need are a moral failure; how one distributes is the truest measure of character.
18 passages · 7 traditions
Of great riches there is no real use, except it be in the distribution; the rest is but conceit.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Riches, 1625 ↗
money is like muck, not good except it be spread.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Seditions and Troubles, 1625 ↗
If in the little affairs of every day,--the trifles of life, those matters to which the rule _de minimis non_ applies,--a man is inconsiderate and seeks only what is advantageous or convenient to himself, to the prejudice of others' rights; if he appropriates to himself that which belongs to all alike, you may be sure there is no justice in his heart, and that he would be a scoundrel on a wholesale scale, only that law and compulsion bind his hands.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Arthur Schopenhauer, Counsels and Maxims, Section 29, tr. T. Bailey Saunders, 1890 ↗
Suppressing honest voices — whether of the oppressed, the dissenter, or the critic — corrupts the whole community.
24 passages · 6 traditions
What has made the European family of nations an improving, instead of a stationary portion of mankind? Not any superior excellence in them, which, when it exists, exists as the effect, not as the cause; but their remarkable diversity of character and culture.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Ch. III, 1859 ↗
The disposition of mankind, whether as rulers or as fellow-citizens to impose their own opinions and inclinations as a rule of conduct on others, is so energetically supported by some of the best and by some of the worst feelings incident to human nature, that it is hardly ever kept under restraint by anything but want of power; and as the power is not declining, but growing, unless a strong barrier of moral conviction can be raised against the mischief, we must expect, in the present circumstances of the world, to see it increase.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter I, 1859 ↗
The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.
Who though longing for it themselves, bestowed their food on the poor and the orphan and the captive: 'We feed you for the sake of God: we seek from you neither recompense nor thanks.'
Women, I allow, may have different duties to fulfil; but they are HUMAN duties, and the principles that should regulate the discharge of them, I sturdily maintain, must be the same.
— The Enlightenment · Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Chapter 3 (closing), 1792 ↗
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Luke 10:36-37, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Liberty is the mother of virtue, and if women are, by their very constitution, slaves, and not allowed to breathe the sharp invigorating air of freedom, they must ever languish like exotics, and be reckoned beautiful flaws in nature.
— The Enlightenment · Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Chapter 2, 1792 ↗
For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, James 2:13, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
I do not call a man a Brahmana because of his origin or of his mother. He is indeed arrogant, and he is wealthy: but the poor, who is free from all attachments, him I call indeed a Brahmana.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 26.v.396, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
man and generally any rational being exists as an end in himself, not merely as a means to be arbitrarily used by this or that will, but in all his actions, whether they concern himself or other rational beings, must be always regarded at the same time as an end.
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Section II (humanity as end in itself), tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Proverbs 3:27-28, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Matthew 7:12, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Woe to those who STINT the measure: Who when they take by measure from others, exact the full; But when they mete to them or weigh to them, minish-
rational beings, on the contrary, are called persons, because their very nature points them out as ends in themselves, that is as something which must not be used merely as means, and so far therefore restricts freedom of action (and is an object of respect).
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Section II (persons vs. things), tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
So act as to treat humanity, whether in thine own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end withal, never as means only.
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Section II (the practical imperative), tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death; remember that you are like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 10.v.129, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
A man is not just if he carries a matter by violence; no, he who distinguishes both right and wrong, who is learned and leads others, not by violence, but by law and equity, and who is guarded by the law and intelligent, he is called just.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 19.v.256–257, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinions of others, to do so would be wise, or even right. These are good reasons for remonstrating with him, or reasoning with him, or persuading him, or entreating him, but not for compelling him, or visiting him with any evil in case he do otherwise.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter I, 1859 ↗
Is not RECIPROCITY such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 15.23, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
And the Heaven, He hath reared it on high, and hath appointed the balance; That in the balance ye should not transgress. Weigh therefore with fairness, and scant not the balance.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 55:7-9, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter I, 1859 ↗
A man is not an elect (Ariya) because he injures living creatures; because he has pity on all living creatures, therefore is a man called Ariya.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 19.v.270, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
Fill the measure, and be not of those who minish: Weigh with exact balance: And defraud not men in their substance, and do no wrong on the earth by deeds of licence.
He FROWNED, and he turned his back, Because the blind man came to him! But what assured thee that he would not be cleansed by the Faith, Or be warned, and the warning profit him? As to him who is wealthy — To him thou wast all attention: Yet is it not thy concern if he be not cleansed: But as to him who cometh to thee in earnest, And full of fears — Him dost thou neglect.
That which is not good for the bee-hive, cannot be good for the bee.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.XLIX, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
Mere justice is, upon most occasions, but a negative virtue, and only hinders us from hurting our neighbour. The man who barely abstains from violating either the person, or the estate, or the reputation of his neighbours, has surely very little positive merit. We may often fulfil all the rules of justice by sitting still and doing nothing.
— The Enlightenment · Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Sect. II, Chap. I, 1759 ↗
As to the orphan therefore wrong him not; And as to him that asketh of thee, chide him not away; And as for the favours of thy Lord tell them abroad.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 93-104.93:9-11, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
Him I call indeed a Brahmana who finds no fault with other beings, whether feeble or strong, and does not kill nor cause slaughter.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 26.v.405, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
All men are made one for another: either then teach them better, or bear with them.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.LVI, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
The labourer is worthy of his hire.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Luke 10:7, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Aye. But ye honour not the orphan, Nor urge ye one another to feed the poor, And ye devour heritages, devouring greedily, And ye love riches with exceeding love.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 78-75.89:17-20, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
Rights and duties are inseparable.
— The Enlightenment · Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Conclusion, 1792 ↗
A superior man helps the distressed, but does not add to the wealth of the rich.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 6.3, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Matthew 7:1-2, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Whoever causes the multitudes to be righteous, sin will not occur on his account; And whoever causes the multitudes to sin, they do not give him the ability to repent.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 5:18, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Things refuse to be mismanaged long. Though no checks to a new evil appear, the checks exist, and will appear. If the government is cruel, the governor's life is not safe.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Compensation, 1844 ↗
For his own good only shall the guided yield to guidance, and to his own loss only shall the erring err; and the heavy laden shall not be laden with another's load.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 17:15, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
And on that day shall no soul be wronged in the least: neither shall ye be rewarded but as ye shall have wrought.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 36:54, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
In the Way of Heaven, there is no partiality of love; it is always on the side of the good man.
And every man's fate have we fastened about his neck: and on the day of resurrection will we bring forth to him a book which shall be proffered to him wide open: 'Read thy Book: there needeth none but thyself to make out an account against thee this day.'
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 17:13-14, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of good shall behold it, And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of evil shall behold it.
For its own works lieth every soul in pledge.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 74:38, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
Just balances will we set up for the day of the resurrection, neither shall any soul be wronged in aught; though, were a work but the weight of a grain of mustard seed, we would bring it forth to be weighed: and our reckoning will suffice.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 21:47, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
Everything is foreseen yet freedom of choice is granted, And the world is judged with goodness; And everything is in accordance with the preponderance of works.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 3:15, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
It is not God's fault. It is our own fault that we suffer. Whatever we sow that we reap. God does not do anything to punish us.
— The turn of the century · Swami Vivekananda, Jnâna Yoga, VII, 1907 ↗
Because you drowned others, they drowned you. And in the end, they that drowned you will be drowned.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 2:6, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Every soul shall know what it hath produced.
everything is given against a pledge, and a net is spread out over all the living; the store is open and the storekeeper allows credit, but the ledger is open and the hand writes… the judgment is a righteous judgment, and everything is prepared for the banquet.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 3:16, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
We will not burden a soul beyond its power: and with us is a book, which speaketh the truth; and they shall not be wronged.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 23:62, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
And ye shall not be rewarded but as ye have wrought.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 37:39, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
If ye do well, to your own behoof will ye do well: and if ye do evil, against yourselves will ye do it.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 17:7, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
The superior man honours the talented and virtuous, and bears with all. He praises the good, and pities the incompetent. Am I possessed of great talents and virtue?-- who is there among men whom I will not bear with? Am I devoid of talents and virtue?-- men will put me away from them. What have we to do with the putting away of others?
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 19.3, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
According to the labor is the reward.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 5:23, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Pledged to God is every man for his actions and their desert.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 52:21, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
Yea, a man shall be the eye witness against himself.
Be careful with a light commandment as with a grave one, for you did know not the reward for the fulfillment of the commandments. Also, reckon the loss [that may be sustained through the fulfillment] of a commandment against the reward [accruing] thereby, and the gain [that may be obtained through the committing] of a transgression against the loss [entailed] thereby.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 2:1, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
one with whom men are pleased, God is pleased. But anyone from whom men are displeased, God is displeased.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 3:10, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Justice is not postponed. A perfect equity adjusts its balance in all parts of life. The dice of God are always loaded. The world looks like a multiplication table, or a mathematical equation, which, turn it how you will, balances itself. Take what figure you will, its exact value, nor more nor less, still returns to you. Every secret is told, every crime is punished, every virtue rewarded, every wrong redressed, in silence and certainty.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Compensation, 1844 ↗
He who says what is not, goes to hell; he also who, having done a thing, says I have not done it. After death both are equal, they are men with evil deeds in the next world.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 22.v.306, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
Crime and punishment grow out of one stem. Punishment is a fruit that unsuspected ripens within the flower of the pleasure which concealed it. Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, cannot be severed; for the effect already blooms in the cause, the end preëxists in the means, the fruit in the seed.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Compensation, 1844 ↗
He that borrows from man is as one who borrows from God, blessed be He, as it is said, 'the wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous deal graciously and give.'
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 2:9, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
That no burdened soul shall bear the burdens of another, And that nothing shall be reckoned to a man but that for which he hath made efforts: And that his efforts shall at last be seen in their true light: That then he shall be recompensed with a most exact recompense.
He that sinneth, sinneth unto himself. He that is unjust, hurts himself, in that he makes himself worse than he was before. Not he only that committeth, but he also that omitteth something, is oftentimes unjust.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 9.IV, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
Shall the reward of good be aught but good?
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 55:60, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
If a man commits a sin, let him not do it again; let him not delight in sin: pain is the outcome of evil.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 9.v.117, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
Hesiod corrects the saying of Plato, that punishment closely follows sin, it being, as he says, born at the same time with it. Whoever expects punishment already suffers it, and whoever has deserved it expects it. Wickedness contrives torments against itself.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Chapter V, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
Not in the sky, not in the midst of the sea, not if we enter into the clefts of the mountains, is there known a spot in the whole world where a man might be freed from an evil deed.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 9.v.127, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
A fool does not know when he commits his evil deeds: but the wicked man burns by his own deeds, as if burnt by fire.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 10.v.136, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Of Profit and Honesty, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, James 4:17, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Autonomy of the will is that property of it by which it is a law to itself (independently of any property of the objects of volition). The principle of autonomy then is: "Always so to choose that the same volition shall comprehend the maxims of our choice as a universal law."
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, The Autonomy of the Will as the Supreme Principle of Morality, tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
I am not aware that any community has a right to force another to be civilised. So long as the sufferers by the bad law do not invoke assistance from other communities, I cannot admit that persons entirely unconnected with them ought to step in and require that a condition of things with which all who are directly interested appear to be satisfied, should be put an end to because it is a scandal to persons some thousands of miles distant, who have no part or concern in it.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter IV (para. 7), 1859 ↗
The reason for not interfering, unless for the sake of others, with a person's voluntary acts, is consideration for his liberty. His voluntary choice is evidence that what he so chooses is desirable, or at the least endurable, to him, and his good is on the whole best provided for by allowing him to take his own means of pursuing it.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter IV, 1859 ↗
If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter II, 1859 ↗
It remains to be proved that society or any of its officers holds a commission from on high to avenge any supposed offence to Omnipotence, which is not also a wrong to our fellow-creatures.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter IV (para. 6), 1859 ↗
unless we are willing to adopt the logic of persecutors, and to say that we may persecute others because we are right, and that they must not persecute us because they are wrong, we must beware of admitting a principle of which we should resent as a gross injustice the application to ourselves.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter IV (para. 1), 1859 ↗
That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinions of others, to do so would be wise, or even right. These are good reasons for remonstrating with him, or reasoning with him, or persuading him, or entreating him, but not for compelling him, or visiting him with any evil in case he do otherwise.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter I, 1859 ↗
I am never to act otherwise than so that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law.
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Universal Law passage, tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
A person should be free to do as he likes in his own concerns; but he ought not to be free to do as he likes in acting for another, under the pretext that the affairs of another are his own affairs. The State, while it respects the liberty of each in what specially regards himself, is bound to maintain a vigilant control over his exercise of any power which it allows him to possess over others.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter IV, 1859 ↗
We must be able to will that a maxim of our action should be a universal law. This is the canon of the moral appreciation of the action generally.
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Section II (summary of examples), tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
The notion that it is one man's duty that another should be religious, was the foundation of all the religious persecutors ever perpetrated, and if admitted, would fully justify them.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter IV (para. 6), 1859 ↗
In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter I, 1859 ↗
The principle of freedom cannot require that he should be free not to be free. It is not freedom, to be allowed to alienate his freedom.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter IV, 1859 ↗
every rational being must so act as if he were by his maxims in every case a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends. The formal principle of these maxims is: "So act as if thy maxim were to serve likewise as the universal law (of all rational beings)."
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Kingdom of Ends, tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
A theory of 'social rights,' the like of which probably never before found its way into distinct language--being nothing short of this--that it is the absolute social right of every individual, that every other individual shall act in every respect exactly as he ought; that whosoever fails thereof in the smallest particular, violates my social right, and entitles me to demand from the legislature the removal of the grievance. So monstrous a principle is far more dangerous than any single interference with liberty; there is no violation of liberty which it would not justify.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter IV (para. 5), 1859 ↗
Canst thou also will that thy maxim should be a universal law? If not, then it must be rejected, and that not because of a disadvantage accruing from it to myself or even to others, but because it cannot enter as a principle into a possible universal legislation, and reason extorts from me immediate respect for such legislation.
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Universal law test, tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
Surely there can be but one rule of right, if morality has an eternal foundation, and whoever sacrifices virtue, strictly so called, to present convenience, or whose DUTY it is to act in such a manner, lives only for the passing day, and cannot be an accountable creature.
— The Enlightenment · Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Chapter 2, 1792 ↗
There is therefore but one categorical imperative, namely, this: Act only on that maxim whereby thou canst at the same time will that it should become a universal law.
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Section II (categorical imperative formula), tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
Act as if the maxim of thy action were to become by thy will a universal law of nature.
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Section II (law of nature formulation), tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
I love man as my fellow; but his sceptre real or usurped, extends not to me, unless the reason of an individual demands my homage; and even then the submission is to reason, and not to man. In fact, the conduct of an accountable being must be regulated by the operations of its own reason; or on what foundation rests the throne of God?
— The Enlightenment · Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Chapter 2, 1792 ↗
What else then can freedom of the will be but autonomy, that is, the property of the will to be a law to itself? But the proposition: "The will is in every action a law to itself," only expresses the principle: "To act on no other maxim than that which can also have as an object itself as a universal law." Now this is precisely the formula of the categorical imperative and is the principle of morality, so that a free will and a will subject to moral laws are one and the same.
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, SEC_3 — The Concept of Freedom is the Key, tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental and spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter I, 1859 ↗
The only unfailing and permanent source of improvement is liberty, since by it there are as many possible independent centres of improvement as there are individuals.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Ch. III, 1859 ↗
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 18.10, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Let your evinced desires be for what is good, and the people will be good. The relation between superiors and inferiors, is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend, when the wind blows across it.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 12.19, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
By his generosity, he won all. By his sincerity, he made the people repose trust in him. By his earnest activity, his achievements were great. By his justice, all were delighted.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 20.1.9, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
the chief problem in any community cursed with crime is not the punishment of the criminals, but the preventing of the young from being trained to crime.
— The turn of the century · W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, Of the Black Belt, 1903 ↗
It is the end of jurisprudence to prescribe rules for the decisions of judges and arbiters. It is the end of casuistry to prescribe rules for the conduct of a good man.
— The Enlightenment · Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Section II, 1759 ↗
The extremest sort of injustice, according to Plato, is where that which is unjust should be reputed for just.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, later section, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
To lead an uninstructed people to war, is to throw them away.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 13.30, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
The putting men to the rack is a dangerous invention, and seems to be rather a trial of patience than of truth. Both he who has the fortitude to endure it conceals the truth, and he who has not: for why should pain sooner make me confess what really is, than force me to say what is not?
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Chapter V, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
Judges ought to remember, that their office is jus dicere, and not jus dare; to interpret law, and not to make law, or give law.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Judicature, 1625 ↗
But there never was any opinion so irregular, as to excuse treachery, disloyalty, tyranny, and cruelty, which are our familiar vices. We may then call these people barbarous, in respect to the rules of reason: but not in respect to ourselves, who in all sorts of barbarity exceed them.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Of Cannibals, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear it inspires, every man would swallow his neighbor alive.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 3:2, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Whence it comes to pass, that him whom the judge has racked that he may not die innocent, he makes him die both innocent and racked.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Chapter V, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
There is always One who presides over the infliction of death. He who would inflict death in the room of him who so presides over it may be described as hewing wood instead of a great carpenter. Seldom is it that he who undertakes the hewing, instead of the great carpenter, does not cut his own hands!
The superior man holds righteousness to be of highest importance. A man in a superior situation, having valour without righteousness, will be guilty of insubordination; one of the lower people having valour without righteousness, will commit robbery.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 17.23, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Be careful [in your dealings] with the ruling authorities for they do not befriend a person except for their own needs; they seem like friends when it is to their own interest, but they do not stand by a man in the hour of his distress.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 2:3, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
The superior man, having obtained their confidence, may then impose labours on his people. If he have not gained their confidence, they will think that he is oppressing them. Having obtained the confidence of his prince, one may then remonstrate with him. If he have not gained his confidence, the prince will think that he is vilifying him.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 19.10, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
When a country is well-governed, poverty and a mean condition are things to be ashamed of. When a country is ill-governed, riches and honour are things to be ashamed of.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 8.13, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Do not impose on him, and, moreover, withstand him to his face.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 14.23, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
There cannot a worse state of things be imagined than where wickedness comes to be legitimate, and assumes, with the magistrates' permission, the cloak of virtue.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, later section, on civil and religious war, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
Judges must beware of hard constructions, and strained inferences; for there is no worse torture, than the torture of laws.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Judicature, 1625 ↗
"You who govern public affairs, what need have you to employ punishments? Love virtue, and the people will be virtuous. The virtues of a superior man are like the wind; the virtues of a common man are like the grass; the grass, when the wind passes over it, bends."
— Transcendentalism · Henry David Thoreau, Walden, and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, The Ponds (opening narrative), 1854 ↗
One foul sentence doth more hurt, than many foul examples. For these do but corrupt the stream, the other corrupteth the fountain.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Judicature, 1625 ↗
What is called a great minister, is one who serves his prince according to what is right, and when he finds he cannot do so, retires.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 11.23, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Go ye to Pharaoh, for he hath burst all bounds: But speak ye to him with gentle speech; haply he will reflect or fear.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 20:43-44, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
If I associate not with these people,-- with mankind,-- with whom shall I associate? If right principles prevailed through the empire, there would be no use for me to change its state.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 18.6, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
If, in my person, I commit offences, they are not to be attributed to you, the people of the myriad regions. If you in the myriad regions commit offences, these offences must rest on my person.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 20.1.3, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
If the people have plenty, their prince will not be left to want alone. If the people are in want, their prince cannot enjoy plenty alone.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 12.9, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
A general State education is a mere contrivance for moulding people to be exactly like one another; and as the mould in which it casts them is that which pleases the predominant power in the government, whether this be a monarch, a priesthood, an aristocracy, or the majority of the existing generation, in proportion as it is efficient and successful, it establishes a despotism over the mind, leading by natural tendency to one over the body.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter IV, 1859 ↗
If the people be led by laws, and uniformity sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame. If they be led by virtue, and uniformity sought to be given them by the rules of propriety, they will have the sense of shame, and moreover will become good.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 2.3, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
To put the people to death without having instructed them;-- this is called cruelty. To require from them, suddenly, the full tale of work, without having given them warning;-- this is called oppression. To issue orders as if without urgency, at first, and, when the time comes, to insist on them with severity;-- this is called injury.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 20.2.3, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Part with the food. From of old, death has been the lot of all men; but if the people have no faith in their rulers, there is no standing for the state.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 12.7, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
What makes a great state is its being (like) a low-lying, down-flowing (stream);--it becomes the centre to which tend (all the small states) under heaven.
The authority of government, even such as I am willing to submit to, is still an impure one: to be strictly just, it must have the sanction and consent of the governed. It can have no pure right over my person and property but what I concede to it.
— Transcendentalism · Henry David Thoreau, Walden, and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Civil Disobedience, 1854 ↗
It is the Way of Heaven to diminish superabundance, and to supplement deficiency. It is not so with the way of man. He takes away from those who have not enough to add to his own superabundance.
There are four types of character in human beings: One that says: "mine is mine, and yours is yours": this is a commonplace type; and some say this is a sodom-type of character. [One that says:] "mine is yours and yours is mine": is an unlearned person; [One that says:] "mine is yours and yours is yours" is a pious person. [One that says:] "mine is mine, and yours is mine" is a wicked person.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 5:10, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
A man shows his character just in the way in which he deals with trifles,--for then he is off his guard. This will often afford a good opportunity of observing the boundless egoism of man's nature, and his total lack of consideration for others; and if these defects show themselves in small things, or merely in his general demeanor, you will find that they also underlie his action in matters of importance, although he may disguise the fact.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Arthur Schopenhauer, Counsels and Maxims, Section 29, tr. T. Bailey Saunders, 1890 ↗
Woe to those who pray, But in their prayer are careless; Who make a shew of devotion, But refuse help to the needy.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 107-92.107:4-7, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
I am convinced, that if all men were to live as simply as I then did, thieving and robbery would be unknown. These take place only in communities where some have got more than is sufficient while others have not enough.
— Transcendentalism · Henry David Thoreau, Walden, and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, The Ponds (opening narrative), 1854 ↗
And of whose substance there is a due and stated portion For him who asketh, and for him who is ashamed to beg.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 70:24-25, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
There are four types of charity givers. He who wishes to give, but that others should not give: his eye is evil to that which belongs to others; He who wishes that others should give, but that he himself should not give: his eye is evil towards that which is his own; He who desires that he himself should give, and that others should give: he is a pious man; He who desires that he himself should not give and that others too should not give: he is a wicked man.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 5:13, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Seek not proud riches, but such as thou mayest get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave contentedly.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Riches, 1625 ↗
Let thy house be wide open, and let the poor be members of thy household.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 1:5, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Divide with reason; between self-love and society; and be so true to thyself, as thou be not false to others. It is a poor centre of a man's actions, himself.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Wisdom For A Man's Self, 1625 ↗
They shall wear elegant and ornamented robes, carry a sharp sword at their girdle, pamper themselves in eating and drinking, and have a superabundance of property and wealth;--such (princes) may be called robbers and boasters. This is contrary to the Tao surely!
Nature hates monopolies and exceptions. The waves of the sea do not more speedily seek a level from their loftiest tossing, than the varieties of condition tend to equalize themselves. There is always some leveling circumstance that puts down the overbearing, the strong, the rich, the fortunate, substantially on the same ground with all others.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Compensation, 1844 ↗
The man, who in the view of gain, thinks of righteousness; who in the view of danger is prepared to give up his life; and who does not forget an old agreement however far back it extends:-- such a man may be reckoned a COMPLETE man.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 14.13, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
The persons who constitute the natural aristocracy, are not found in the actual aristocracy, or only on its edge; as the chemical energy of the spectrum is found to be greatest just outside of the spectrum.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Manners, §18, 1844 ↗
Woe to every Backbiter, Defamer! Who amasseth wealth and storeth it against the future! He thinketh surely that his wealth shall be with him for ever.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 93-104.104:1-3, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter II, 1859 ↗
But the hushing of the criticism of honest opponents is a dangerous thing. It leads some of the best of the critics to unfortunate silence and paralysis of effort, and others to burst into speech so passionately and intemperately as to lose listeners.
— The turn of the century · W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, III. Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others, 1903 ↗
Popular opinions, on subjects not palpable to sense, are often true, but seldom or never the whole truth. They are a part of the truth; sometimes a greater, sometimes a smaller part, but exaggerated, distorted, and disjoined from the truths by which they ought to be accompanied and limited. Heretical opinions, on the other hand, are generally some of these suppressed and neglected truths, bursting the bonds which kept them down, and either seeking reconciliation with the truth contained in the common opinion, or fronting it as enemies, and setting themselves up, with similar exclusiveness, as the whole truth.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter II, 1859 ↗
Truth, in the great practical concerns of life, is so much a question of the reconciling and combining of opposites, that very few have minds sufficiently capacious and impartial to make the adjustment with an approach to correctness, and it has to be made by the rough process of a struggle between combatants fighting under hostile banners.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter II, 1859 ↗
Our merely social intolerance kills no one, roots out no opinions, but induces men to disguise them, or to abstain from any active effort for their diffusion.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter II (excerpt 3, para. 1), 1859 ↗
Everyone who says a thing in the name of him who said it, brings deliverance into the world.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 6:6, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Certainly fame is like a river, that beareth up things light and swoln, and drowns things weighty and solid.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Praise, 1625 ↗
If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter II, 1859 ↗
The superior man seeks to perfect the admirable qualities of men, and does not seek to perfect their bad qualities. The mean man does the opposite of this.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 12.16, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Long toleration begets habit; habit, consent and imitation.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, later section on civil war, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
Honest and earnest criticism from those whose interests are most nearly touched,—criticism of writers by readers,—this is the soul of democracy and the safeguard of modern society.
— The turn of the century · W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, III. Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others, 1903 ↗
The silently growing assumption of this age is that the probation of races is past, and that the backward races of to-day are of proven inefficiency and not worth the saving. Such an assumption is the arrogance of peoples irreverent toward Time and ignorant of the deeds of men.
— The turn of the century · W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, Of the Sorrow Songs, 1903 ↗
Serving men in an upright way, where shall I go to, and not experience such a thrice-repeated dismissal? If I choose to serve men in a crooked way, what necessity is there for me to leave the country of my parents?
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 18.2, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Such is the power of public opinion, that it is hard, even for the innocent, to feel the happy consolations of innocence, when they fall under the maledictions of this power. How could we regard ourselves as in the right, when all about us denounced us as criminals, and had the power and the disposition to treat us as such.
— Transcendentalism · Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter (Easton jail passage), 1855 ↗
The way of truth is one and simple; that of particular profit, and the commodity of affairs a man is entrusted with, is double, unequal, and casual.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Of Profit and Honesty, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
The practice of judging and condemning morally, is the favourite revenge of the intellectually shallow on those who are less so, it is also a kind of indemnity for their being badly endowed by nature, and finally, it is an opportunity for acquiring spirit and BECOMING subtle--malice spiritualises.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 219, tr. Helen Zimmern, 1907 ↗
For the common people are what we help them to become; their vices are our vices, gazed upon, envied, and imitated; and if they come back with all their weight upon us, it is but just.
— The turn of the century · William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Note 153, 1902 ↗
The doctrine ascribes to all mankind a vested interest in each other's moral, intellectual, and even physical perfection, to be defined by each claimant according to his own standard.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter IV (para. 5), 1859 ↗
The omnipotence of Society means a dead level of uniformity. The claim of the individual to be heard, to say what he likes, to do what he likes, to live as he likes, is absolutely necessary, not only for the variety of elements without which life is poor, but also for the hope of a future age.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, III, 1859 ↗
Every dispute that is for the sake of Heaven, will in the end endure; But one that is not for the sake of Heaven, will not endure.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 5:17, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
A general State education is a mere contrivance for moulding people to be exactly like one another; and as the mould in which it casts them is that which pleases the predominant power in the government, whether this be a monarch, a priesthood, an aristocracy, or the majority of the existing generation, in proportion as it is efficient and successful, it establishes a despotism over the mind, leading by natural tendency to one over the body.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter IV, 1859 ↗
The only unfailing and permanent source of improvement is liberty, since by it there are as many possible independent centres of improvement as there are individuals.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Ch. III, 1859 ↗