Question 1

What is the best book to start with?

Accepted Answer

An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, chapter 1 The two masters and the definition of utility are his own English. The famous banner is easier to misunderstand without them.

Question 2

What is the most famous quote?

Accepted Answer

This library does not measure fame, and it does not rank lines by how often they are shared. The first line it files for Jeremy Bentham that is not marked Questionable or Misattributed is “The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation.” (A common statement of Bentham's principle; compare A Fragment on Government (1776) and the opening of An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789), Paraphrase or translation).

Question 3

What is the most misquoted line?

Accepted Answer

None of the lines this library files for Jeremy Bentham is marked Misattributed or Questionable. That is a fact about these cards, not a certificate that every popular sentence is theirs.

Question 4

What is one key idea, in a sentence?

Accepted Answer

Two masters: Pain and pleasure govern both what people do and the standard of what they ought to do, on his opening claim.