Organisation of social insurance should be treated as one part only of a comprehensive policy of social progress. Social insurance fully developed may provide income security; it is an attack upon Want. But Want is one only of five giants on the road of reconstruction and in some ways the easiest to attack. The others are Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness.
William BeveridgeA cockle-fish may as soon crowd the ocean into its narrow shell, as vain man ever comprehend the decrees of God!
William BeveridgeIf the way of heaven be narrow, it is not long; and if the gate be straight, it opens into endless life.
William BeveridgeIgnorance is an evil weed, which dictators may cultivate among their dupes, but which no democracy can afford among its citizens.
William BeveridgeLet us proportion our alms to our ability, lest we provoke God to proportion His blessings to our alms.
William BeveridgeAny proposals for the future, while they should use to the full the experience gathered in the past, should not be restricted by consideration of sectional interests established in the obtaining of that experience. Now, when the war is abolishing landmarks of every kind, is the opportunity for using experience in a clear field. A revolutionary moment in the world's history is a time for revolutions, not for patching.
William Beveridge