Bilkent had one strange advantage I did not appreciate at the time. They forced engineering students to take humanities seriously. At the time, I probably treated some of those courses as a distraction. I was studying computer science. I wanted systems, algorithms, projects, internships, the usual things that looked useful on paper. Then one of those classes made us read John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty.

That was the first time I remember properly thinking about liberty. I really thought about what people should be allowed to think, speak, and live differently from you. Some of Mill’s lines stayed with me for years. Especially the ones about free speech, individuality, and the danger of silencing unpopular opinions. I did not understand all of it with any depth back then. But I remember feeling that I had touched something important.

This post is mostly a collection of those quotes. Partly for myself. Partly for anyone else who wants a clean reminder that liberty is not just about protecting the opinions we already like.

John Stuart Mill

Some Of Mill's Quotes

If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

This is by far the most influential quote I have ever read. Before I read it, I was convinced that liberty was just about protecting the opinions we already like. But after reading it, I have come to believe that liberty is about protecting the opinions we already like, but also about protecting the opinions we don't like.

The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental or spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

I didn't think about limits of liberty before reading this quote. But after reading it, I realized the liberty we have is not unlimited. Mill does not treat liberty as permission to do anything. It treats liberty as a serious responsibility. You get room to live your life, but you also owe others the same room.

Here are a few others I like.

The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

After the primary necessities of food and raiment, freedom is the first and strongest want of human nature.

John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women

What is now called the nature of women is an eminently artificial thing—the result of forced repression in some directions, unnatural stimulation in others.

John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women

Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.

John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism

In Conclusion

John Stuart Mill's philosophy reflects a deep respect for individual freedom and the importance of free expression. His advocacy for the right to pursue one's own good without impeding on the rights of others, as well as his recognition of the need for diversity of opinion, remains relevant and resonant today. Additionally, his insights into the artificiality of gender roles and the need for women's liberation continue to inspire progress towards greater gender equality. Mill's ideas offer a framework for valuing personal autonomy, equality, and intellectual curiosity, which are essential for a healthy society.