Herbert Spencer
British philosopher who applied evolutionary theory to society, coining 'survival of the fittest' to describe social progress.
Most quoted
"Evolution is an integration of matter and concomitant dissipation of motion; during which the matter passes from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity to a definite, coherent heterogeneity; and during which the retained motion undergoes a parallel transformation."
— from First Principles, 1862
"The poverty of the incapable, the distresses that come upon the imprudent, the starvation of the idle, and those shoulderings aside of the weak by the strong... are the decrees of a large, far-seeing benevolence."
— from Social Statics, 1851
"The fact disclosed by a survey of the past that majorities have usually been wrong, must not blind us to the complementary fact that majorities have usually not been entirely wrong."
— from The Man Versus The State, 1884
All quotes by Herbert Spencer (101)
The advance of organism from the simple to the complex is the course of evolution.
We too often forget that not only is there 'progress of thought' but also 'progress of feeling.'
The militant type of society... is characterized by an extensive public control.
True liberty consists in the power to do what we ought.
The function of the statesman is to secure the good of the whole.
In proportion as societies advance, the rights of women become more respected.
The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
Architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and poetry may truly be called the efflorescence of civilized life.
The drunkard, the gambler, the debauchee, must all take the consequences of their own folly.
Evolution is a change from an indefinite incoherent homogeneity to a definite coherent heterogeneity.
The moral laws are the conditions of life.
Civilization is a slow and laborious process.
The sphere of government is strictly limited to the protection of life, liberty, and property.
Happiness is the only sanction of life.
The industrial type of society is one in which the units are free.
Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food.
The savage in man is never quite eradicated.
Time: that which man is always trying to kill, but which ends in killing him.
The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.
I have spared no pains to make my book as clear as possible.
Contemporaries of Herbert Spencer
Other Sociologys born within 50 years of Herbert Spencer (1820–1903).