"It is now a period of more than two years since first I saw your inestimable book of Political Justice. It opened to my mind fresh and more extensive views; it materially influenced my character, and I rose from its perusal a wiser and a better man. I was no longer the votary of romance; till then I had existed in an ideal world—now I found that in this universe of ours was enough to excite the interest of the heart, enough to employ the discussions of reason; I beheld, in short, that I had duties to perform. Conceive the effect which the Political Justice would have upon a mind before jealous of its independence, participating somewhat singularly in a peculiar susceptibility."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Historians from EnglandAtheists from EnglandNovelists from EnglandPhilosophers from EnglandAnarchists
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Percy Bysshe Shelley to William Godwin (10 January 1812), quoted in Letters from Percy Bysshe Shelley to William Godwin, Vol. I (1891), p. 11
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Godwin
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
William Godwin
William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher, educationalist, novelist, historian and biographer. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism, and the first modern proponent of anarchism. He was the husband of Mary Wollstonecraft, father of Mary Shelley and father-in-law of Percy Bysshe Shelley.
50 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by William Godwin →
Related Quotes
"Mankind will never be, in an eminent degree, virtuous and happy till each man shall possess that portion of distincti…"
"Simplify the social system, in the manner which every motive, but those of usurpation and ambition, powerfully recomm…"
"It is false that kings are entitled to the eminence they obtain. They possess no intrinsic superiority over their sub…"
"Privilege is a regulation rendering a few men, and those only, by the accident of their birth, eligible to certain si…"
"The case of mere titles is so absurd that it would deserve to be treated only with ridicule were t not for the seriou…"
"Till mankind be satisfied with the naked statement of what they really perceive, till they confess virtue to be then …"
"Anarchy, in its own nature, is an evil of short duration. The more horrible are the mischiefs it inflicts, the more d…"
"Nothing can be of more importance than to separate prejudice and mistake on the one hand from reason and demonstratio…"
"Democracy is a system of government according to which every member of society is considered as a man and nothing more."
"The evil of marriage, as is it practiced in the European countries, extends further than we have yet described. The m…"