

“Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing.”
Traced to On Liberty (1859).
More from John Stuart Mill
“Truth gains more even by the errors of one who, with due study and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think.”
John Stuart Mill
On Liberty · 1859
verified“Those only are happy who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way.”
John Stuart Mill
Autobiography · 1873
verified“Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.”
John Stuart Mill
Autobiography · 1873
verified“Stupidity is much the same all the world over.”
John Stuart Mill
The Subjection of Women · 1869
verified“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”
John Stuart Mill
Utilitarianism · 1861
verified“One person with a belief is a social power equal to ninety-nine who have only interests.”
John Stuart Mill
Considerations on Representative Government · 1861
verifiedMore Life quotes
“It all comes to this: the simplest way to be happy is to do good.”
Helen Keller
The Simplest Way to be Happy · 1933
verified“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”
Helen Keller
The Open Door · 1957
verified“There never has been security. No man has ever known what he would meet around the next corner; if life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
Tomorrow Is Now · 1963
verified“One of the blessings of age is to learn not to part on a note of sharpness, to treasure the moments spent with those we love, and to make them whenever possible good to remember, for time is short.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
My Day · 1943
verified“Happiness is not a goal, it is a by-product. Paradoxically, the one sure way not to be happy is deliberately to map out a way of life in which one would please oneself completely and exclusively.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
You Learn by Living · 1960
verified“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
You Learn by Living · 1960
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