What John Stuart Mill thinks about politics
Philosopher (1806 to 1873), a utilitarian and liberal; worked for the East India Company for almost thirty-five years; elected Member of Parliament for Westminster in 1865.
John Stuart Mill did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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1 dated position, c. 1859, in their own words. Our reading of what John Stuart Mill has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Our readingSociety needs protection from the tyranny of prevailing opinion, not only from the tyranny of rulers
Their wordsProtection, therefore, against the tyranny of the magistrate is not enough: there needs protection also against the tyranny of the prevailing opinion and feeling; against the tendency of society to impose, by other means than civil penalties, its own ideas and practices as rules of conduct on those who dissent from them; to fetter the development, and, if possible, prevent the formation, of any individuality not in harmony with its ways, and compel all characters to fashion themselves upon the model of its own.