34+ Algernon Sidney Quotes On Education, Friendship And World

Algernon Sidney was an English politician of the 17th century, active in the English Civil War. He was a prominent republican thinker and a major proponent of the republican-inspired Commonwealth of England. He was executed for treason in 1683 after being accused of plotting against King Charles II. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Algernon Sidney on education, leadership, love.

Top 10 Algernon Sidney Quotes

1. If his Majesty is resolved to have my head, he may make a whistle of my arse if he pleases.
2. I will believe in the right of one man to govern a nation despotically when I find a man born unto the world with boots and spurs, and a nation with saddles on their backs.
3. Men lived like fishes; the great ones devoured the small.
4. Liars need to have good memories.
5. Laws and constitutions ought to be weighed... to constitute that which is most conducing to the establishment of justice and liberty.
6. Swords were given to men, that none might be Slaves, but such as know not how to use them.
7. It is not necessary to light a candle to the sun
8. No right can come by conquest, unless there were a right of making that conquest.
9. Everyone sees they cannot well live asunder, nor many together, without some rule to which all must submit.
10. A general presumption that Icings will govern well, is not a sufficient security to the People... those who subjected themselves to the will of a man were governed by a beast.

Algernon Sidney Short Quotes

• The general revolt of a Nation cannot be called a Rebellion.
• To depend upon the Will of a Man is Slavery.
• The best Governments of the World have bin composed of Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy.
• Who will wear a shoe that hurts him, because the shoe-maker tells him 'tis well made?
• All the nations they had to deal with, had the same fate.
• That is the best Government, which best provides for war.
• For violence or fraud can create no right.
• That which is not just, is not Law; and that which is not Law, ought not to be obeyed.

Algernon Sidney Quotes About Liberty

If the public safety be provided, liberty and propriety secured, justice administered, virtue encouraged, vice suppressed, and the true interest of the nation advanced, the ends of government are accomplished . . . — Algernon Sidney

If vice and corruption prevail, liberty cannot subsist; but if virtue have the advantage, arbitrary power cannot be established. — Algernon Sidney

The common Notions of Liberty are not from School Divines, but from Nature. — Algernon Sidney

This submission is a restraint of liberty, but could be of no effect as to the good intended, unless it were general; nor general, unless it were natural. — Algernon Sidney

Liberty cannot be preserved, if the manners of the people are corrupted. — Algernon Sidney

Algernon Sidney Quotes About Nature

Nay, all laws must fall, human societies that subsist by them be dissolved, and all innocent persons be exposed to the violence of the most wicked, if men might not justly defend themselves against injustice by their own natural right, when the ways prescribed by publick authority cannot be taken. — Algernon Sidney

The truth is, man is hereunto led by reason which is his nature. — Algernon Sidney

Fruits are always of the same nature with the seeds and roots from which they come, and trees are known by the fruits they bear: as a man begets a man, and a beast a beast, that society of men which constitutes a government upon the foundation of justice. — Algernon Sidney

There may be a hundred thousand men in an army, who are all equally free; but they only are naturally most fit to be commanders or leaders, who most excel in the virtues required for the right performance of those offices. — Algernon Sidney

Algernon Sidney Famous Quotes And Sayings

[A]ll popular and well-mixed governments [republics] . . . are ever established by wise and good men, and can never be upheld otherwise than by virtue: The worst men always conspiring against them, they must fall, if the best have not power to preserve them. . . . [and] unless they be preserved in a great measure free from vices . . . . — Algernon Sidney

Fruits are always of the same nature with the seeds and roots from which they come, and trees are known by the fruits they bear: as a man begets a man, and a beast a beast, that society of men which constitutes a government upon the foundation of justice, virtue, and the common good, will always have men to promote those ends; and that which intends the advancement of one man's desire and vanity, will abound in those that will foment them. — Algernon Sidney

The only ends for which governments are constituted, and obedience rendered to them, are the obtaining of and protection; and they who cannot provide for both give the people a right of taking such ways as best please themselves, in order to their own safety. — Algernon Sidney

God leaves to Man the choice of Forms in Government; and those who constitute one Form, may abrogate it. — Algernon Sidney

Such as have reason, understanding, or common sense, will, and ought to make use of it in those things that concern themselves and their posterity, and suspect the words of such as are interested in deceiving or persuading them not to see with their own eyes. — Algernon Sidney

'Tis hard to comprehend how one man can come to be master of many, equal to himself in right, unless it be by consent or by force. — Algernon Sidney

Many things are unknown to the wisest, and the best men can never wholly divest themselves of passions and affections... nothing can or ought to be permanent but that which is perfect. — Algernon Sidney

Life Lessons by Algernon Sidney

1. Algernon Sidney taught us to stand up for our beliefs and fight for justice, no matter the cost. He was a staunch defender of liberty and freedom, and his life was a testament to the power of courage and conviction.
2. He also showed us the importance of learning and education, as he was an avid reader and studied philosophy, politics, and history extensively.
3. Finally, Algernon Sidney's life was a reminder that we should never give up on our dreams, no matter how difficult the path may be. He was a true believer in the power of the individual and his life serves as an inspiration to us all.