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Convinced that character is all and circumstances nothing, [the Puritan] sees in the poverty of those who fall by the way, not a misfortune to be pitied and relieved, but a moral failing to be condemned, and in riches, not an object of suspicion … but the blessing which rewards the triumph of energy and will.

— R. H. Tawney Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)

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More quotes by R. H. Tawney

The foundation of democracy is the sense of spiritual independence which nerves the individual to stand alone against the powers of this world.

Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)

Freedom for the pike is death for the minnows.

It is probable that democracy owes more to Nonconformity than to any other single movement.

Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)

A right should not be absolute for the same reason that a power should not be absolute.

The Acquisitive Society (1920)

The certainties of one age are the problems of the next.

Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: R. H. Tawney (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.