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Full Idea
You ask which form of government is the best? Whichever teaches us to govern ourselves.
Gist of Idea
The best form of government teaches us to govern ourselves
Source
Wolfgang von Goethe (Maxims and Reflections [1825], 353)
Book Ref
Goethe,J. Wolfgang: 'Maxims and Reflections' [Penguin 1840], p.42
A Reaction
Not a fashionable view, since the rise of freedom as the highest political ideal, but I identify with the idea that a good government should educate, and should try to facilitate virtue as well as pleasure.
| 7538 | The happiest people link the beginning and end of life [Goethe] |
| 7539 | To get duties from people without rights, you must pay them well [Goethe] |
| 7540 | Beauty is a manifestation of secret natural laws [Goethe] |
| 7541 | Man never understands how anthropomorphic he is [Goethe] |
| 7542 | The best form of government teaches us to govern ourselves [Goethe] |
| 7543 | We gain self-knowledge through action, not thought - especially when doing our duty [Goethe] |
| 7544 | Many people imagine that to experience is to understand [Goethe] |