--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The proper method for hastening the decay…" description: "\"The proper method for hastening the decay of error, is not, by brute force, or by regulation which is one of the classes of force, to endeavour to redu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ab/william-godwin-1978_brute-force_the-proper-method-for-hastening-the-deca_881672.png" --- # The proper method for hastening the decay of error, is… ![“The proper method for hastening the decay of error, is not, by brute force, or by regulation which is one of the classes of force, to endeavour to reduce men to intellectual uniformity; but on the contrary by teaching every man to think for himself.” quote by William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ab/william-godwin-1978_brute-force_the-proper-method-for-hastening-the-deca_881672.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ab/william-godwin-1978_brute-force_the-proper-method-for-hastening-the-deca_881672.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ab/william-godwin-1978_brute-force_the-proper-method-for-hastening-the-deca_881672.png) > “The proper method for hastening the decay of error, is not, by brute force, or by regulation which is one of the classes of force, to endeavour to reduce men to intellectual uniformity; but on the contrary by teaching every man to think for himself.” [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True progress comes from teaching individuals independent thought, not forced uniformity. **In simple terms:** Teach people to think, not to conform. Key Takeaway Foster critical thinking. Themes freedom education individualism Mood thoughtful challenging Type political philosophical When to use this quote - schools - public policy - media literacy Key Concepts liberalism critical pedagogy autonomy Questions to Reflect On - How can you encourage independent thought in groups? - What risks arise from too much conformity? A Different Perspective Uniformity may seem efficient but stifles innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brute force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brute-force/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Endeavour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endeavour/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Regulation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regulation/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Uniformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uniformity/) ## Related quotes > [All women are wonders because they reduce all men to the obvious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mainwaring/all-women-are-wonders-because-they-reduce-all-men-to-the-obvious/) [Daniel Mainwaring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mainwaring/) > [I hate to see complacency prevail in our lives when it's so directly contrary to the teaching of Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/i-hate-to-see-complacency-prevail-in-our-lives-when-it-s-so-directly/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [The proper method for hastening the decay of error is by teaching every man to think for himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/the-proper-method-for-hastening-the-decay-of-error-is-by-teaching/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [Men have their intellectual ancestry, and the likeness of some one of them is forever unexpectedly flashing out in the features of a descendant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/men-have-their-intellectual-ancestry-and-the-likeness-of-some-one-of/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [Women, on average, are less knowledgeable than men. They're less intellectual than men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-wax/women-on-average-are-less-knowledgeable-than-men-they-re-less/) [Amy Wax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-wax/) > [I walked into an international economics tutorial, and the professor said, 'I don't know how to teach a woman.' I said, 'It's the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/i-walked-into-an-international-economics-tutorial-and-the-professor/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [Teaching man his relatively small sphere in the creation, it also encourages him by its lessons of the unity of Nature and shows him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-jump-cannon/teaching-man-his-relatively-small-sphere-in-the-creation-it-also/) Annie Jump Cannon > [Giving a man a fish feeds him for one meal. Teaching a man to fish feeds him for a lifetime. As parents and gospel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-a-bednar/giving-a-man-a-fish-feeds-him-for-one-meal-teaching-a-man-to-fish/) [David A. Bednar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-a-bednar/) > [“there is a danger inherent in the teaching...that man is nothing but the result of biological, psychological and sociological conditions, or the product of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/there-is-a-danger-inherent-in-the-teaching-that-man-is-nothing-but/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [In teaching man, experimental science results in lessening his pride more and more by proving to him every day that primary causes, like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/in-teaching-man-experimental-science-results-in-lessening-his-pride/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [I think teaching a man to hate himself is much more criminal than teaching a man to hate someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-think-teaching-a-man-to-hate-himself-is-much-more-criminal-than/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [In the code of the satyagrahi, there is no such thing as surrender to brute force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/in-the-code-of-the-satyagrahi-there-is-no-such-thing-as-surrender-to/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [What took me decades to learn, these kids can get on the Internet...What I learned by brute force, dealing out hands, they learn on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doyle-brunson/what-took-me-decades-to-learn-these-kids-can-get-on-the-internet-what/) [Doyle Brunson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doyle-brunson/) > [The civil magistrate cannot function without some ethical guidance, without some standard of good and evil. If that standard is not to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-civil-magistrate-cannot-function-without-some-ethical-guidance/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [War with all its glorification of brute force is essentially a degrading thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/war-with-all-its-glorification-of-brute-force-is-essentially-a/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More by William Godwin > [I know nothing worth the living for but usefulness and the service of my fellow-creatures. The only object I pursue is to increase, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/i-know-nothing-worth-the-living-for-but-usefulness-and-the-service-of/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [He that loves reading has everything within his reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/he-that-loves-reading-has-everything-within-his-reach/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [There must be room for the imagination to exercise its powers; we must conceive and apprehend a thousand things which we do not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/there-must-be-room-for-the-imagination-to-exercise-its-powers-we-must/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [In infamy, it is wisely provided that he who stands highest in the ranks of society has the heaviest load to sustain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/in-infamy-it-is-wisely-provided-that-he-who-stands-highest-in-the/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [No man knows the value of innocence and integrity but he who has lost them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/no-man-knows-the-value-of-innocence-and-integrity-but-he-who-has-lost/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [Study with desire is real activity; without desire it is but the semblance and mockery of activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/study-with-desire-is-real-activity-without-desire-it-is-but-the/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [“Godwin on Fenelon and his Valet \* Following is an excerpt from William Godwin's Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, Book II, Chapter II: “Of Justice”:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/godwin-on-fenelon-and-his-valet-following-is-an-excerpt-from-william/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [Tenderness is the name for a lover's most exquisite sensation; protection is implied in his most generous and heart-thrilling impulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/tenderness-is-the-name-for-a-lover-s-most-exquisite-sensation/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [Whenever government assumes to deliver us from the trouble of thinking for ourselves, the only consequences it produces are those of torpor and imbecility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/whenever-government-assumes-to-deliver-us-from-the-trouble-of/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [During my academical life, and from this time forward, I was indefatigable in my search after truth. I read all the authors of greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/during-my-academical-life-and-from-this-time-forward-i-was/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [Was ever a great discovery prosecuted or an important benefit conferred upon the human race by him who was incapable of standing and thinking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/was-ever-a-great-discovery-prosecuted-or-an-important-benefit/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [The real or supposed rights of man are of two kinds, active and passive; the right in certain cases to do as we list;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/the-real-or-supposed-rights-of-man-are-of-two-kinds-active-and/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [Soundness of understanding is connected with freedom of enquiry; consequently, opinion should, as far as public security will admit, be exempted from restraint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/soundness-of-understanding-is-connected-with-freedom-of-enquiry/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [Power is not happiness. Security and peace are more to be desired than a man at which nations tremble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/power-is-not-happiness-security-and-peace-are-more-to-be-desired-than/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [“Strange that men, from age to age, should consent to hold their lives at the breath of another, merely that each in his turn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/strange-that-men-from-age-to-age-should-consent-to-hold-their-lives/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) [Explore all 193 William Godwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) ## More Brute force quotes > [War with all its glorification of brute force is essentially a degrading thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/war-with-all-its-glorification-of-brute-force-is-essentially-a/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [What took me decades to learn, these kids can get on the Internet...What I learned by brute force, dealing out hands, they learn on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doyle-brunson/what-took-me-decades-to-learn-these-kids-can-get-on-the-internet-what/) [Doyle Brunson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doyle-brunson/) > [In the code of the satyagrahi, there is no such thing as surrender to brute force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/in-the-code-of-the-satyagrahi-there-is-no-such-thing-as-surrender-to/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The civil magistrate cannot function without some ethical guidance, without some standard of good and evil. If that standard is not to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-civil-magistrate-cannot-function-without-some-ethical-guidance/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force--nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/they-were-conquerors-and-for-that-you-want-only-brute-force-nothing/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Extended families have never been the norm in America; the highest figure for extended-family households ever recorded in Americanhistory is 20 percent. Contrary to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/extended-families-have-never-been-the-norm-in-america-the-highest/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [I saw that the kingdom must be interior before it can be exterior, that it is a kingdom of ideas, and not one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-whitall-smith/i-saw-that-the-kingdom-must-be-interior-before-it-can-be-exterior/) [Hannah Whitall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-whitall-smith/) > [THE ART OF PEACE does not rely on weapons or brute force to succeed; instead, we put ourselves in tune with the universe, maintain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morihei-ueshiba/the-art-of-peace-does-not-rely-on-weapons-or-brute-force-to-succeed/) [Morihei Ueshiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morihei-ueshiba/) > [Do not be proud just because you have brute force, because an animal has brute force too! Either you be proud with your intellect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/do-not-be-proud-just-because-you-have-brute-force-because-an-animal/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [They opposed brute force to reason and philosophy, and battalions of foreign mercenaries to ideas. As if ideas were to be impaled on bayonets!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-sabatini/they-opposed-brute-force-to-reason-and-philosophy-and-battalions-of/) [Rafael Sabatini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-sabatini/) > [“than he expects. But it's a purely brute force approach”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-weber/than-he-expects-but-it-s-a-purely-brute-force-approach/) [David Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-weber/) > [When imperialism feels weak, it resorts to brute force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugo-chavez/when-imperialism-feels-weak-it-resorts-to-brute-force/) [Hugo Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugo-chavez/) > [“Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bradstreet/authority-without-wisdom-is-like-a-heavy-axe-without-an-edge-fitter/) [Anne Bradstreet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bradstreet/) > [One of the biggest mistakes companies make is brute force lead generation - "give me more leads!" -when they don't understand that not all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-ross/one-of-the-biggest-mistakes-companies-make-is-brute-force-lead/) [Aaron Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-ross/) > [Collectivism holds that the individual has no rights, that his life and work belong to the group (to "society," to the tribe, the state,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/collectivism-holds-that-the-individual-has-no-rights-that-his-life/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) [Browse all 113 Brute force quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brute-force/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The proper method for hastening the decay of error, is not, by brute force, or by regulation which is one of the classes of force, to endeavour to reduce men to intellectual uniformity; but on the contrary by teaching every man to think for himself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Godwin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/the-proper-method-for-hastening-the-decay-of-error-is-not-by-brute/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Brute force" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/the-proper-method-for-hastening-the-decay-of-error-is-not-by-brute/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ab/william-godwin-1978_brute-force_the-proper-method-for-hastening-the-deca_881672.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ab/william-godwin-1978_brute-force_the-proper-method-for-hastening-the-deca_881672.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ab/william-godwin-1978_brute-force_the-proper-method-for-hastening-the-deca_881672.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The proper method for hastening the decay of error, is not, by brute force, or by regulation which is one of…” — William Godwin", "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": "William Godwin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The proper method for hastening the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/the-proper-method-for-hastening-the-decay-of-error-is-not-by-brute/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/the-proper-method-for-hastening-the-decay-of-error-is-not-by-brute/#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 } } ] } ```