“As there must be moderation in other things, so there must be moderation in self-criticism.”

— Herbert Spencer

Source: The Principles of Ethics (1897), Part III: The Ethics of Individual Life, Ch. 10, General Conclusions
Context: As there must be moderation in other things, so there must be moderation in self-criticism. Perpetual contemplation of our own actions produces a morbid consciousness, quite unlike that normal consciousness accompanying right actions spontaneously done; and from a state of unstable equilibrium long maintained by effort, there is apt to be a fall towards stable equilibrium, in which the primitive nature reasserts itself. Retrogression rather than progression may hence result.

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Herbert Spencer 81

English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent … 1820–1903

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