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committed by a polemic, is to stigmatise those who hold the contrary opinion
peculiarly exposed, because they are in general few and uninfluential, and nobody but themselves feel much interest in seeing justice done them;
giving merited honour to every one, whatever opinion he may hold, who has calmness to see and honesty to state what his opponents and their opinions really are, exaggerating nothing to their discredit,
The liberty of the individual must be thus far limited; he must not make himself a nuisance to other people.
different modes of life should be proved practically, when any one thinks fit to try them.
The majority, being satisfied with the ways of mankind as they now are (for it is they who make them what they are), cannot comprehend why those ways should not be good enough for everybody;
would be absurd to pretend that people ought to live as if nothing whatever had been known in the world before they came into it;
find out what part of recorded experience is properly applicable to his own circumstances and character.
He who does anything because it is the custom, makes no choice. He gains no practice
mental and moral, like the muscular powers, are improved only by being used.
the grounds of an opinion are not conclusive to the person's own reason, his reason cannot be strengthened, but is likely to be weakened by his adopting it:
He who chooses his plan for himself, employs all his faculties.
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.
an intelligent following of custom, or even occasionally an intelligent deviation from custom, is better than a blind and simply mechanical adhesion
One whose desires and impulses are not his own, has no character, no more than a steam-engine has a character.
even in what people do for pleasure, conformity is the first thing thought
become incapable of any strong wishes or native pleasures, and are generally without either opinions or feelings
development of his individuality, each person becomes more valuable to himself, and is therefore capable of being more valuable to others.
To give any fair-play to the nature of each, it is essential that different persons should be allowed to lead different lives.
There is always need of persons not only to discover new truths, and point out when what were once truths are true no longer, but also to commence new practices, and set the example of more enlightened conduct,
few persons, in comparison with the whole of mankind, whose experiments, if adopted by others, would be likely to be any improvement on established practice. But these few are the salt of the earth;
If there were nothing new to be done, would human intellect cease to be necessary?
civilisation should not die out, as in the Byzantine Empire. Persons of genius, it is true, are, and are always likely to be, a small minority; but in order to have them, it is necessary to preserve the soil in which they grow.
importance of genius, and the necessity of allowing it to unfold itself freely both in thought and in practice,
Originality is the one thing which unoriginal minds cannot feel the use of.
nothing was ever yet done which some one was not the first to
unless there is a corresponding diversity in their modes of life, they neither obtain their fair share of happiness, nor grow up to the mental, moral, and aesthetic stature of which their nature is capable.
people who did this have discovered the secret of human progressiveness, and must have kept themselves steadily at the head of the movement of the world.
conduct consists, first, in not injuring the interests of one another; or rather certain interests which, either by express legal provision or by tacit understanding, ought to be considered as rights; and secondly, in each person's bearing his share (to be fixed on some equitable principle) of the labours and sacrifices incurred for defending the society
ever stimulating each other to increased exercise of their higher faculties, and increased direction of their feelings
neither one person, nor any number of persons, is warranted in saying to another human creature of ripe years, that he shall not do with his life for his own benefit what he chooses to
Considerations to aid his judgment, exhortations to strengthen his will, may be offered to him, even obtruded on him, by others; but he himself is the final judge.
All errors which he is likely to commit against advice and warning, are far outweighed by the evil of allowing others to constrain him to what they deem his good.
we shall not, for that reason, desire to spoil it still further:
prevent are things which have been tried and condemned from the beginning of the world until now; things which experience has shown not to be useful or suitable to any person's individuality.
Whenever, in short, there is a definite damage, or a definite risk of damage, either to an individual or to the public, the case is taken out of the province of liberty, and placed in that of morality or law.
If society lets any considerable number of its members grow up mere children, incapable of being acted on by rational consideration of distant motives, society has itself to blame for the consequences.
with the personal tastes and self-regarding concerns of individuals the public has no business to interfere.
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
individual is not accountable to society for his actions, in so far as these concern the interests of no person but himself. Advice, instruction, persuasion, and avoidance by other people if thought necessary by them for their own good, are the only measures by which society can justifiably express its dislike
actions as are prejudicial to the interests of others, the individual is accountable and may be subjected either to social or to legal punishments,
damage, to the interests of others, can alone justify the interference of society,
be only warned of the danger; not forcibly prevented from exposing himself to it.
The right inherent in society, to ward off crimes against itself by antecedent precautions, suggests the obvious limitations to the maxim,
are many acts which, being directly injurious only to the agents themselves, ought not to be legally interdicted, but which, if done publicly, are a violation of good manners and coming thus within the category of offences against others may rightfully be prohibited.
Whatever it is permitted to do, it must be permitted to advise to do.
further question is, whether the State, while it permits, should nevertheless indirectly discourage conduct which it deems contrary to the best interests
Taxation, therefore, of stimulants, up to the point which produces the largest amount of revenue (supposing that the State needs all the revenue which it yields) is not only admissible, but to be approved
The principle of freedom cannot require that he should be free not to be free.
personal relations or services, should never be legally binding beyond a limited duration of time;
