Quote#World
The finest minds seem to be formed rather by efforts at original…
Quote byThomas Robert Malthus · 1766–1834
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Essay on the Principle of Population (1798; rev. through 1826).
English (original)
The finest minds seem to be formed rather by efforts at original thinking, by endeavours to form new combinations, and to discover new truths, than by passively receiving the impressions of other men's ideas.
— Thomas Robert Malthus
More from Thomas Robert Malthus
The transfer of three shillings and sixpence a day to every labourer would not increase the quantity of meat in the country. There is not at present enough for all to have a decent share. What would then be the consequence?
To remedy the frequent distresses of the common people, the poor laws of England have been instituted; but it is to be feared that though they may have alleviated a little the intensity of individual misfortune, they have spread the …
It is an acknowledged truth in philosophy that a just theory will always be confirmed by experiment.
Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio, Subsistence, increases only in an arithmetical ratio.
The love of independence is a sentiment that surely none would wish to see erased from the breast of man, though the parish law of England, it must be confessed, is a system of all others the most calculated gradually to weaken this …
I feel no doubt whatever that the parish laws of England have contributed to raise the price of provisions and to lower the real price of labour.