Quote#Politics & Power
The question with respect to Government is a question about the…
Quote byJames Mill · 1773–1836
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Government (1820).
English (original)
The question with respect to Government is a question about the adaptation of means to an end. Notwithstanding the portion of discourse which has been bestowed upon this subject, it is surprising to find, upon a close inspection, how few of its principles are settled.
— James Mill
More from James Mill
The end of Government has been described in a great variety of expressions.
This habit of forming opinions, and acting upon them without evidence, is one of the most immoral habits of the mind. ... As our opinions are the fathers of our actions, to be indifferent about the evidence of our opinions is to be …
No good government can ever want more than two things for its support: 1st, Its own excellence; and, 2dly, a people sufficiently instructed, to be aware of that excellence. Every other pretended support, must ultimately tend to its …
...under the glosing exterior of the Hindu, lies a general disposition to deceit and perfidy. [And] the same insincerity, mendacity, and perfidy; the same indifference to the feelings of others; the same prostitution and venality are …
The government and the people are under a moral necessity of acting together; a free press compels them to bend to one another.
These, and equivalent expressions, are just ; they are only defective, inasmuch as the particular ideas which they embrace are indistinctly announced; and different combinations are by means of them raised indifferent minds, and even in …