"The strongest argument against despotism is that it does not adequately educate the people it governs."

"A person should be free to do as he likes in his own concerns; but he ought not to be free to do as he likes in acting for other people, under the pretext that the affairs of other people are his own …"

"The only freedom, which is of real value, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, without reference to the opinions of others."

"Men are not more zealous for truth than they often are for error, and a sufficient application of legal or even of social penalties will generally succeed in stopping the propagation of either."

"In the case of any person whose conduct affects prejudicially the interests of others, there is no room for the argument that he should be allowed to do as he likes, because it is his own affair."