"The amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage it contained. That so few now dare to be eccentric marks the chief danger of the time."

Courage
🎨 Studio 2.0

Create & Download Shareable Quote Image

Export typography-grade cards optimized for Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok stories.

Free instant export. No watermark required.

Insight & Reflection

Words carry weight, and John Stuart Mill's insight into courage is no exception. It serves as a gentle reminder that amidst the chaos of modern life, timeless wisdom still holds the power to guide our decisions and clarify our values.

About John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill was an English philosopher, political economist, and politician. He was a paradigmatic philosopher of liberalism and has been described as "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century" by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. He conceived of liberty as justifying the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state and social control, and formulated the Harm principle. He also advocated proportional representation, the emancipation of women, and the development of labour organisations and farm cooperatives, and has been classified as both a classical liberal and social liberal.

More quotes by John Stuart Mill →
Editorial Note: This quote is curated and fact-checked by the Quotes Archive Editorial Team. Verified Literature Specialist.

More by John Stuart Mill

"The duty of man is the same in respect to his own nature as in respect to the nature of all other things, namely not to follow it but to amend it."

Read more →

More about Courage

"I do not say think as I think, but think in my way. Fear no shadows, least of all in that great spectre of personal unhappiness which binds half the world to orthodoxy."

Read more →
View all Courage quotes →