---
title: "2 Railway Quotes By Herbert Spencer"
description: "2 Railway quotes by Herbert Spencer. Plus more from Herbert Spencer and more Railway sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/herbert-spencer-1765_aggression_what-then-do-they-want-a-government-for_1108032.jpg"
---

> [What, then, do they want a government for? Not to regulate commerce; not to educate the people; not to teach religion, not to administer charity; not to make roads and railways; but simply to defend the natural rights of man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/what-then-do-they-want-a-government-for-not-to-regulate-commerce-not/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/herbert-spencer-1765_aggression_what-then-do-they-want-a-government-for_1108032.jpg)

> [Unlike private enterprise which quickly modifies its actions to meet emergencies - unlike the shopkeeper who promptly finds the wherewith to satisfy a sudden demand - unlike the railway company which doubles its trains to carry a special influx of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/unlike-private-enterprise-which-quickly-modifies-its-actions-to-meet/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec6/herbert-spencer-1765_action_unlike-private-enterprise-which-quickly_1410655.jpg)

## Other authors on Railway

- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-paul-theroux-74195.jpg) Paul Theroux 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railway/paul-theroux/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-narendra-modi-70220.jpg) Narendra Modi 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railway/narendra-modi/)

## More by Herbert Spencer

> [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [Any piece of knowledge which the pupil has himself acquired- any problem which he has himself solved, becomes, by virtue of the conquest, much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/any-piece-of-knowledge-which-the-pupil-has-himself-acquired-any/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [Conservatism defends those coercive arrangements which a still-lingering savageness makes requisite. Radicalism endeavours to realize a state more in harmony with the character of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/conservatism-defends-those-coercive-arrangements-which-a-still/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [Absolute morality is the regulation of conduct in such a way that pain shall not be inflicted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/absolute-morality-is-the-regulation-of-conduct-in-such-a-way-that/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [When a man's knowledge is not in order, the more of it he has the greater will be his confusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/when-a-man-s-knowledge-is-not-in-order-the-more-of-it-he-has-the/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [The cruelty of a Fijian god, who, represented as devouring the souls of the dead, may be supposed to inflict torture during the process,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/the-cruelty-of-a-fijian-god-who-represented-as-devouring-the-souls-of/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [The liberty the citizen enjoys is to be measured not by governmental machinery he lives under, whether representative or other, but by the paucity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/the-liberty-the-citizen-enjoys-is-to-be-measured-not-by-governmental/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [I had a great dislike to the annoyances entailed by baggage; and it was always with some feeling of elation that I cut myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/i-had-a-great-dislike-to-the-annoyances-entailed-by-baggage-and-it/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a necessity…It is a part of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/progress-therefore-is-not-an-accident-but-a-necessity-it-is-a-part-of/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [Surely in much talk there cannot choose but be much vanity. Loquacity is the fistula of the mind,--ever-running and almost incurable, let every man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/surely-in-much-talk-there-cannot-choose-but-be-much-vanity-loquacity/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [No one can be perfectly free till all are free; no one can be perfectly moral till all are moral; no one can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-one-can-be-perfectly-free-till-all-are-free-no-one-can-be/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [Only when Genius is married to Science can the highest results be produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/only-when-genius-is-married-to-science-can-the-highest-results-be/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [It cannot but happen?that those will survive whose functions happen to be most nearly in equilibrium with the modified aggregate of external forces? This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/it-cannot-but-happen-that-those-will-survive-whose-functions-happen/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [“Before he can remake his society, his society must make him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/before-he-can-remake-his-society-his-society-must-make-him/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railway/herbert-spencer/#itemlist",
            "name": "2 Railway Quotes By Herbert Spencer",
            "numberOfItems": 2,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "What, then, do they want a government for? Not to regulate commerce; not to educate the people; not to teach religion, not to administer charity; not to make roads and railways; but simply to defend the natural rights of man -- to protect person and property -- to prevent the aggressions of the powerful upon the weak -- in a word, to administer justice. This is the natural, the original, office of a government. It was not intended to do less: it ought not to be allowed to do more.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Herbert Spencer"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/what-then-do-they-want-a-government-for-not-to-regulate-commerce-not/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/herbert-spencer-1765_aggression_what-then-do-they-want-a-government-for_1108032.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/herbert-spencer-1765_aggression_what-then-do-they-want-a-government-for_1108032.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/herbert-spencer-1765_aggression_what-then-do-they-want-a-government-for_1108032.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“What, then, do they want a government for? Not to regulate commerce; not to educate the people; not to teach…” — Herbert Spencer",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Unlike private enterprise which quickly modifies its actions to meet emergencies - unlike the shopkeeper who promptly finds the wherewith to satisfy a sudden demand - unlike the railway company which doubles its trains to carry a special influx of passengers; the law-made instrumentality lumbers on under all varieties of circumstances at its habitual rate. By its very nature it is fitted only for average requirements, and inevitably fails under unusual requirements.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Herbert Spencer"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/unlike-private-enterprise-which-quickly-modifies-its-actions-to-meet/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec6/herbert-spencer-1765_action_unlike-private-enterprise-which-quickly_1410655.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec6/herbert-spencer-1765_action_unlike-private-enterprise-which-quickly_1410655.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec6/herbert-spencer-1765_action_unlike-private-enterprise-which-quickly_1410655.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Unlike private enterprise which quickly modifies its actions to meet emergencies - unlike the shopkeeper who…” — Herbert Spencer",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railway/herbert-spencer/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railway/herbert-spencer/",
            "name": "Railway Quotes by Herbert Spencer",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railway/herbert-spencer/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/herbert-spencer-1765_aggression_what-then-do-they-want-a-government-for_1108032.jpg"
            },
            "description": "2 Railway quotes by Herbert Spencer. Plus more from Herbert Spencer and more Railway sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railway/herbert-spencer/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railway/herbert-spencer/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Railway",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railway/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Herbert Spencer",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railway/herbert-spencer/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```