The Greatest Good of the Greatest Number
"The greatest good of the greatest number" is often used by good men in an utter meaningless or pernicious way. It is an end sought, an object aimed at; and in this way it is wholly selfish. There has not been any oppressive system under the sun but what its devotees hoped sometime to have the greatest number, and for their own they have sought the greatest good. The only true purpose in the state is the jealous guarding of the rights of the minority, of the poorest, the weakest. The conservation of the rights of the one means the conservation of the rights of all, and its inevitable fruitage—result, outworking—is the greatest good to the greatest number.