In the Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789) Bentham strove 'to cut a new road through the wilds of jurisprudence'. Laws should be socially useful and not merely reflect the status quo; and that while he believed that human beings inevitably pursue pleasure and avoid pain Bentham thought it to be a 'sacred truth' that 'the greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation'.