James Mill

“Power is a means to an end. It is never an end in itself.”

“The best government is that which desires to make the people happy, and knows how to make them happy.”

“The foundation of all morality is the principle of utility.”

“To have a reason for what you do is a great advantage.”

“Where the laws are vague and uncertain, the people are slaves.”

“The desire of power, and the desire of praise, are the two great springs of human action.”

“The business of the government is to keep the peace, to protect the property of the individual, and to allow men to live and let live.”

“The end of government has been defined to be the greatest happiness of the greatest number.”

“If the mind of man is capable of truths, it is capable of receiving them from evidence.”

“The whole of the life of man is a series of adjustments.”

“A man's belief is a part of himself.”

“The feelings of the people are the only legitimate foundation of government.”

“There is no man who is not governed by his passions.”

“Every man's happiness is the great end of his being.”

“The whole object of education is, or ought to be, to form a man of right principles.”

“Of all the evils of government, the greatest is embodied in the word misgovernment.”