--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And what sort of philosophical doctrine…" description: "\"And what sort of philosophical doctrine is thi - that numbers confer unlimited rights, that they take from some persons all rights over themselves, and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/258/auberon-herbert-28820_doctrine_and-what-sort-of-philosophical-doctrine_384878.jpg" --- # And what sort of philosophical doctrine is thi - that… ![“And what sort of philosophical doctrine is thi - that numbers confer unlimited rights, that they take from some persons all rights over themselves, and vest these rights in others.” quote by Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/258/auberon-herbert-28820_doctrine_and-what-sort-of-philosophical-doctrine_384878.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/258/auberon-herbert-28820_doctrine_and-what-sort-of-philosophical-doctrine_384878.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/258/auberon-herbert-28820_doctrine_and-what-sort-of-philosophical-doctrine_384878.jpg) > “And what sort of philosophical doctrine is thi - that numbers confer unlimited rights, that they take from some persons all rights over themselves, and vest these rights in others.” [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The doctrine claims that numbers grant unlimited rights, allowing some to dominate others, which is unjust. **In simple terms:** Numbers used to justify unlimited power over others. Key Takeaway Question authority that claims absolute rights. Themes politics philosophy rights justice authority Mood critical analytical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - legal debates - political theory - human rights advocacy - policy making Key Concepts natural rights power dynamics egalitarianism Questions to Reflect On - Who benefits from claims of unlimited rights? - How can societies balance collective and individual rights? A Different Perspective Such doctrines often ignore individual autonomy and context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doctrine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctrine/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights/) ## Related quotes > [It is sufficiently obvious, that persons and property are the two great subjects on which Governments are to act; and that the rights of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/it-is-sufficiently-obvious-that-persons-and-property-are-the-two/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [The rights of persons, and the rights of property, are the objects, for the protection of which Government was instituted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-rights-of-persons-and-the-rights-of-property-are-the-objects-for/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Human rights' are a fine thing, but how can we make ourselves sure that our rights do not expand at the expense of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/human-rights-are-a-fine-thing-but-how-can-we-make-ourselves-sure-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Personally, when it comes to rights, I think one of two things is true. I think either we have unlimited rights, or we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/personally-when-it-comes-to-rights-i-think-one-of-two-things-is-true/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [Without justice being freely, fully, and impartially administered, neither our persons, nor our rights, nor our property, can be protected. And if these, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-story/without-justice-being-freely-fully-and-impartially-administered/) [Joseph Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-story/) > [“There is no intellectual exercise that is not ultimately pointless. A philosophical doctrine is, at first, a plausible description of the universe; the years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/there-is-no-intellectual-exercise-that-is-not-ultimately-pointless-a/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [There is no doubt that healthy-mindedness is inadequate as a philosophical doctrine, because the evil facts which it refuses positively to account for are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-is-no-doubt-that-healthy-mindedness-is-inadequate-as-a-2/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“We must be convinced that there are no such things as 'Christian principles.' There is the Person of Christ, who is the principle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/we-must-be-convinced-that-there-are-no-such-things-as-christian/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [“There is no doubt that healthy-mindedness is inadequate as a philosophical doctrine, because the evil facts which it positively refuses to account for are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-is-no-doubt-that-healthy-mindedness-is-inadequate-as-a/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [There is no exercise of the intellect which is not, in the final analysis, useless. A philosophical doctrine begins as a plausible description of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/there-is-no-exercise-of-the-intellect-which-is-not-in-the-final/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [Civil rights are civil rights. There are no persons who are not entitled to their civil rights. We have to recognize that we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-height/civil-rights-are-civil-rights-there-are-no-persons-who-are-not/) [Dorothy Height](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-height/) > [“most people do not want people with those values running around freely in society, especially when they threaten to self-harm or harm others when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-d-taylor/most-people-do-not-want-people-with-those-values-running-around/) [Thomas D. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-d-taylor/) > [Whilst the rights of all as persons are equal, in virtue of their access to reason, their rights in property are very unequal. Oneman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/whilst-the-rights-of-all-as-persons-are-equal-in-virtue-of-their/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The rights of persons, and therights of property, are the objects, for the protection of which Government was instituted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-rights-of-persons-and-therights-of-property-are-the-objects-for/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [We need not concern ourselves much about rights of property if we faithfully observe the rights of persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/we-need-not-concern-ourselves-much-about-rights-of-property-if-we/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) ## More by Auberon Herbert > [If we cannot by reason, by influence, by example, by strenuous effort, and by personal sacrifice, mend the bad places of civilization, we certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/if-we-cannot-by-reason-by-influence-by-example-by-strenuous-effort/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [If government half a century ago had provided us with all our dinners and breakfasts, it would be the practice of our orators today…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/if-government-half-a-century-ago-had-provided-us-with-all-our-dinners/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [We hold that what one man cannot morally do, a million men cannot morally do, and government, representing many millions of men, cannot do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/we-hold-that-what-one-man-cannot-morally-do-a-million-men-cannot/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [“By what right do men exercise power over each other?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/by-what-right-do-men-exercise-power-over-each-other/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [The career of a politician mainly consists in making one part of the nation do what it does not want to do, in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/the-career-of-a-politician-mainly-consists-in-making-one-part-of-the/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [If you tie a man's hands there is nothing moral about his not committing murder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/if-you-tie-a-man-s-hands-there-is-nothing-moral-about-his-not/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [Deny human rights, and however little you may wish to do so, you will find yourself abjectly kneeling at the feet of that old-world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/deny-human-rights-and-however-little-you-may-wish-to-do-so-you-will/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [How, then, can the rights of three men exceed the rights of two men? In what possible way can the rights of three men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/how-then-can-the-rights-of-three-men-exceed-the-rights-of-two-men-in/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [The ruling idea of the politician - stated rather bluntly - is that those who are opposed to him exist for the purpose of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/the-ruling-idea-of-the-politician-stated-rather-bluntly-is-that-those/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [Every tax or rate, forcibly taken from an unwilling person, is immoral and oppressive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/every-tax-or-rate-forcibly-taken-from-an-unwilling-person-is-immoral/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [You will not make a man wiser by taking freedom of action from him. A man can only learn when he is free to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/you-will-not-make-a-man-wiser-by-taking-freedom-of-action-from-him-a/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [The course that will restore to the workmen a father's duties and responsibilities, between which and themselves the state has now stepped, is for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/the-course-that-will-restore-to-the-workmen-a-father-s-duties-and/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [It is the small owner who offers the only really profitable and reliable material for taxation. He is made for taxation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/it-is-the-small-owner-who-offers-the-only-really-profitable-and/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [There never yet has been a great system sustained by force under which all the best faculties of men have not slowly withered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/there-never-yet-has-been-a-great-system-sustained-by-force-under/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [Do you not see, first, that - as a mental abstract - physical force is directly opposed to morality; and secondly, that it practically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/do-you-not-see-first-that-as-a-mental-abstract-physical-force-is/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) [Explore all 19 Auberon Herbert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) ## More Doctrine quotes > [Any comprehensive doctrine, religious or secular, can be introduced into any political argument at any time, but I argue that people who do this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rawls/any-comprehensive-doctrine-religious-or-secular-can-be-introduced/) [John Rawls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rawls/) > [Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. ... We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/our-nation-was-born-in-genocide-when-it-embraced-the-doctrine-that/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Doctrine tied itself into infinite knots over the realities of sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/doctrine-tied-itself-into-infinite-knots-over-the-realities-of-sex/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [Lord, send Your life throughout the entire church. Visit Your church; restore sound doctrine and holy, earnest living. Take away from professing Christians their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/lord-send-your-life-throughout-the-entire-church-visit-your-church/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Tell me your doctrine of the Fall and I will tell you the state of your theology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-a-torrey/tell-me-your-doctrine-of-the-fall-and-i-will-tell-you-the-state-of/) [R. A. Torrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-a-torrey/) > [With a full century of contrary proof in our possession and despite our demonstrated capacity for cooperative teamwork, some among us seem to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/with-a-full-century-of-contrary-proof-in-our-possession-and-despite/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [And if thy heart be straight with God then every creature shall be to thee a mirror of life and a book of holy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/and-if-thy-heart-be-straight-with-god-then-every-creature-shall-be-to/) [Thomas a Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [We must hold fast to the austere but true doctrine as to what really governs politics and saves or destroys states. Having in mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/we-must-hold-fast-to-the-austere-but-true-doctrine-as-to-what-really/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Every generation tries to put its doctrine on a high shelf where the children can not reach it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-rauschenbusch/every-generation-tries-to-put-its-doctrine-on-a-high-shelf-where-the/) [Walter Rauschenbusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-rauschenbusch/) > [To forgive and to be forgiven are the two points of holy magnificence and holy modesty; round these two centres the whole doctrine of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/to-forgive-and-to-be-forgiven-are-the-two-points-of-holy-magnificence/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [The doctrines of the Bible are often not clothed in the language of strict truth, but in that which was fittest to convey to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-pike/the-doctrines-of-the-bible-are-often-not-clothed-in-the-language-of/) [Albert Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-pike/) > [When members unite with the church, they should not only make a profession of faith in Christ (that is essential), but in light of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-adams/when-members-unite-with-the-church-they-should-not-only-make-a/) [Jay Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-adams/) > [And after hearing what our Church can say, If still our reason runs another way, That private reason 'tis more just to curb, Than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/and-after-hearing-what-our-church-can-say-if-still-our-reason-runs/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [ We have the ability to take him \[President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez\] out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-robertson/we-have-the-ability-to-take-him-president-of-venezuela-hugo-chavez/) [Pat Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-robertson/) > [President Obama has never summarized the Obama Doctrine with such clarity, but here is what it would look like: 'I will undertake any military…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/president-obama-has-never-summarized-the-obama-doctrine-with-such/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) [Browse all 1,801 Doctrine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctrine/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "And what sort of philosophical doctrine is thi - that numbers confer unlimited rights, that they take from some persons all rights over themselves, and vest these rights in others.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Auberon Herbert" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/and-what-sort-of-philosophical-doctrine-is-thi-that-numbers-confer/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Doctrine" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/and-what-sort-of-philosophical-doctrine-is-thi-that-numbers-confer/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/258/auberon-herbert-28820_doctrine_and-what-sort-of-philosophical-doctrine_384878.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/258/auberon-herbert-28820_doctrine_and-what-sort-of-philosophical-doctrine_384878.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/258/auberon-herbert-28820_doctrine_and-what-sort-of-philosophical-doctrine_384878.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And what sort of philosophical doctrine is thi - that numbers confer unlimited rights, that they take from…” — Auberon Herbert", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Auberon Herbert", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "And what sort of philosophical doctrine...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/and-what-sort-of-philosophical-doctrine-is-thi-that-numbers-confer/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/and-what-sort-of-philosophical-doctrine-is-thi-that-numbers-confer/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```