A sentiment worth remembering

Herbert Spencer wrote:-

Society exists for the benefit of its members – not the members for the benefit of society.

For obvious reasons many, if not all of our politicians and bureaucrats, should remember this phrase and try very hard to keep to it.

At present many are manifestly failing, that is of course if they are even trying to meet the ethos expressed by Spencer.

per Wikipedia:

Herbert Spencer (April 27, 1820 – December 8, 1903) was an English philosopher; prominent classical liberal political theorist; and sociological theorist.

Spencer developed an all-embracing conception of evolution as the progressive development of the physical world, biological organisms, the human mind, and human culture and societies. The lifelong bachelor contributed to a wide range of subjects, including ethics, religion, politics, philosophy, biology, sociology, and psychology.

He is best known for coining the phrase, “survival of the fittest,” which he did in Principles of Biology (1864), after reading Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species.

[Hat tip Adam Smith Institute Blog for the quotation]

Tags: freedom, Liberal, Philosophy, Quotations, Social Values, Society