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Quotation from On Liberty by John Stuart Mill
“Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing”
On Liberty, Ch. III, Of Individuality
Mill's organic image of character, drawn from Humboldt's ideal of self-development.
Citation: "Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing" — John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Ch. III, Of Individuality. (id on-liberty-q7)
Portrait: John Stuart Mill by London Stereoscopic Company, c1870, London Stereoscopic Company, Public domain.
