In exploring the depths of philosophical thought, few minds shine as brightly as that of Thomas Hobbes. His profound insights into human nature and the social contract have left an indelible mark on the landscape of Western philosophy. As we delve into the complexities of Hobbes's philosophy, we are confronted with a tapestry of ideas that challenge our perceptions and provoke deep introspection. Quotes By Thomas Hobbes resonate with timeless relevance, offering profound glimpses into the nature of power, society, and the human condition.
Quotes By Thomas Hobbes (2024)
Explore the profound insights and timeless wisdom of Thomas Hobbes through this collection of thought-provoking quotes on human nature, society, and governance.
"The condition of man… is a condition of war of everyone against everyone."
"Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues."
"A man's conscience and his judgment is the same thing."
"The greatest of human powers is to be master of one's own fortune."
"The right of nature… is the liberty each man hath to use his own power as he will himself for the preservation of his own nature."
"The obligation of subjects to the sovereign is understood to last as long, and no longer, than the power lasteth by which he is able to protect them."
"Words are wise men's counters, they do but reckon by them: but they are the money of fools."
"The privilege of absurdity; to which no living creature is subject but man only."
"Curiosity is the lust of the mind."
"Leisure is the mother of philosophy."
"Such truth as opposeth no man's profit nor pleasure is to all men welcome."
"The secret thoughts of a man run over all things, holy, profane, clean, obscene, grave, and light, without shame or blame."
"Science is the knowledge of consequences, and dependence of one fact upon another."
"A natural man is one who desires to acquire more and more knowledge."
"And from this diffidence of one another, there is no way for any man to secure himself so reasonable as anticipation."
"The imagination is the faculty of forming strange images and motions in the mind."
"The world without men's meddling would be a happy and peaceable abode."
"In the state of nature profit is the measure of right."
"The felicity of this life consists not in the repose of a mind satisfied."
"The source of every crime, is some defect of the understanding; or some error in reasoning; or some sudden force of the passions."
"Words are wise men's counters, they do but reckon by them; but they are the money of fools."
"And because the condition of man… is a condition of war of every one against every one."
"There is no such thing as perpetual tranquility of mind while we live here; because life itself is but motion, and can never be without desire, nor without fear, no more than without sense."
"But though this be a state of liberty, yet it is not a state of licence."
"The power of a man… is his present means to obtain some future apparent good."
"The privilege of absurdity; to which no living creature is subject, but man only."
"I put for a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death."
"It is not wisdom but authority that makes a law."
"For such is the nature of men, that howsoever they may acknowledge many others to be more witty, or more eloquent, or more learned; yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves."
"I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark."
"To this war of every man against every man, this also is consequent; that nothing can be unjust."
"The passions that incline men to peace, are fear of death; desire of such things as are necessary to commodious living; and a hope by their industry to obtain them."
"Such is the nature of men, that howsoever they may acknowledge many others to be more witty, or more eloquent, or more learned; yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves."
"During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man."
"All men by nature desire knowledge."
"There is no such thing as perpetual tranquility of mind while we live here, because life itself is but motion, and can never be without desire, nor without fear, no more than without sense."
"The source of every crime is some defect of the understanding, or some error in reasoning, or some sudden force of the passions."
"The passions that incline men to peace are fear of death and desire of such things as are necessary to commodious living."
"In the state of nature, every man is enemy to every man."
"Life in the state of nature is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
"The condition of man is a condition of war of everyone against everyone."
"The greatest of human power is reason."
"To have no desire, is to be dead."
"Nature hath made men so equal."
"Words are the counters of wise men and the money of fools."
"The flesh endures the storms of the present alone; the mind, those of the past and future as well as the present."
"Laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from some sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly."
"To speak, though ignorance, concerning the nature, faculties, and affections of God, is no less impious than to deny Him."
"The public is greater than the private."
"No man's error becomes his own law; nor obliges him to persist in it."
"He that is taken and put into prison or chains is not conquered, though overcome; for he is still an enemy."
"If the covenant be made without sword, it is but words and can never oblige men longer than in their own sight of interest."
"The universe is corporeal."
"The condition of human life is as a perpetual flux of things, that alter themselves without any design, in the world."
"All men are by nature equal in that equal right that every man hath to his natural freedom."
"The condition of man is a condition of war."
"Man is distinguished, not only by his reason, but also by his passions."
"The laws of nature are immutable and eternal."
"The thoughts are to the desires, as scouts and spies to range abroad and find the way to the things desired."
"The value or worth of a man is, as of all other things, his price; that is to say, so much as would be given for the use of his power."
"The nature of this war consisteth not in actual fighting, but in the known disposition thereto during all the time there is no assurance to the contrary."
"To be trusted with a secret is an honour."
"Nothing is more honourable than a grateful heart."
"No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
"It is not the lie that passeth through the mind, but the lie that sinketh in, and settleth in it, that doth the hurt."
"Hell is truth seen too late."
"If I cannot rest under misunderstandings without being the first to attempt to remove them, it is no time to speak."
"Words are the counters of wise men, and the money of fools."
"It is one thing to desire, another to be in capacity fit for what we desire."
"Such is the nature of men, that howsoever they may acknowledge many others to be more witty, or more eloquent, or more learned, yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves."
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain."
"The desires and other passions of man are in themselves no sin. No more are the actions that proceed from those passions till they know a law that forbids them."
"The world is not constituted for the happiness of any one living being in it."
"No man can be continually wary, and yet live."
"A man's conscience and his judgment are the same thing; and as the judgment, so also the conscience, may be erroneous."
"Desire to know why, and how, curiosity; such as is in no living creature but man."
"There is no such thing as perpetual tranquillity of mind while we live here; because life itself is but motion, and can never be without desire, nor without fear, no more than without sense."
"The greatest of human powers is demonstrated in the ability to reason."
"There is no such thing as perpetual tranquillity of mind, while we live here, because life itself is but motion, and can never be without desire, nor without fear, no more than without sense."
"A man's conscience and his judgment is the same thing; and as the judgment, so also the conscience, may be erroneous."
"The life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
"Words are the money of fools."
"Fear of death is natural; knowledge of it is wisdom."
"The desires, and other passions of man, are in themselves no sin."
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts.' They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain."
"A man cannot lay down the right of resisting them that assault him by force, to take away his life."
"The world's a bubble, and the life of man less than a span."
"The right of nature… is the liberty each man hath to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own nature; that is to say, of his own life."
"Hope and fear are twins born of the same mother."
"Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of war, where every man is enemy to every man, the same consequent to the time wherein men live without other security than what their own strength and their own invention shall furnish them withal."
"The value or worth of a man is, as of all other things, his price."
"The present only hath a being in nature; things past have a being in the memory only; but things to come have no being at all."
"The passions that incline men to peace are: fear of death; desire of such things as are necessary to commodious living; and a hope by their industry to obtain them."
"I put for the general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death."
"For such is the nature of men, that howsoever they may acknowledge many others to be more witty, or more eloquent, or more learned, yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves."
"That a man be willing, when others are so too, as far forth, as for peace, and defence of himself he shall think it necessary, to lay down this right to all things; and be contented with so much liberty against other men, as he would allow other men against himself."
"In such condition, there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
"Nature hath made men so equal, in the faculties of body, and mind; as that though there be found one man sometimes manifestly stronger in body, or of quicker mind than another; yet when all is reckoned together, the difference between man, and man, is not so considerable, as that one man can thereupon claim to himself any benefit, to which another may not pretend, as well as he."
"The passions of men are commonly more potent than their reason."
"Such truth, as opposeth no man's profit, nor pleasure, is to all men welcome."
"No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
"Force, and fraud, are in war the two cardinal virtues."
"Knowledge is power."
"The right of nature… is the liberty each man hath to use his own power as he will himself for the preservation of his own nature; that is to say, of his own life."
"To have no time for philosophy is to be a true philosopher."
"The reputation of power is power."
"To be happy in this life, or to understand the purpose of human life, one must know the world."
"By nature, we desire, and attain, causes of pleasure, and causes of joy."
"The best course of action is to make ourselves irreplaceable by being in control."
"The condition of human beings, by nature, is a condition of war."
"Hope is definitely the dream of a waking man."
"A man cannot lay down the right of resisting them that assault him by force to take away his life."
"A free man is he that in those things which by his strength and wit he is able to do is not hindered to do what he has a will to."
"Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
"By nature, we desire, and attain, causes of pleasure, and causes of joy."
In essence, "Quotes By Thomas Hobbes" serve not only as profound reflections on the human condition but also as timeless reminders of the enduring quest for stability and security in a world marked by inherent conflicts and tensions. As we navigate the intricacies of governance, morality, and social contract, Hobbes's words continue to resonate, challenging us to confront the fundamental truths about power, justice, and the nature of civilization.
