“A democracy is no more than an aristocracy of orators. The people are so readily moved by demagogues that control must be exercised by the government over speech and press.”
Thomas Hobbes
PinIt is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law.PinGovernment is necessary, not because man is naturally bad… but because man is by nature more individualistic than social.PinCuriosity is the lust of the mind.PinLife in the state of nature is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.PinHell is truth seen too late.PinLeisure is the Mother of Philosophy.PinAll generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called ‘Facts’. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain.PinHumans are driven by a perpetual and restless desire of power.PinThe condition of man… is a condition of war of everyone against everyone.
9 Thomas Hobbes Quotes on War and Crime
“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. In such condition there is no place for industry… 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.”
Thomas Hobbes
PinDuring 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.PinFor it can never be that war shall preserve life, and peace destroy it.PinWar consisteth not in battle only, or the act of fighting; but in a tract of time, wherein the will to contend by battle is sufficiently known.PinWhen all the world is overcharged with inhabitants, then the last remedy of all is war, which provideth for every man, by victory or death.PinIf men are naturally in a state of war, why do they always carry arms and why do they have keys to lock their doors?PinHe that is taken and put into prison or chains is not conquered, though overcome; for he is still an enemy.PinForce and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.
“The source of every crime, is some defect of the understanding; or some error in reasoning; or some sudden force of the passions. Defect in the understanding is ignorance; in reasoning, erroneous opinion.”
Thomas Hobbes
7 Thomas Hobbes Quotes on Life and Peace
PinThe original of all great and lasting societies consisted not in the mutual good will men had toward each other, but in the mutual fear they had of each other.PinThe first and fundamental law of Nature, which is, to seek peace and follow it.PinIt’s not the pace of life I mind. It’s the sudden stop at the end.PinNow I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark.PinLaughter 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.PinWhere there is no common power, there is no law.
“That a man be willing, when others are so too, as far forth as for peace and defense 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.”
Thomas Hobbes
2 Thomas Hobbes Quotes on Desire
PinIt is one thing to desire, another to be in capacity fit for what we desire.PinIf any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies.
9 Thomas Hobbes Quotes that will Make You Think
PinScience is the knowledge of consequences, and dependence of one fact upon another.PinUnderstanding is nothing else than conception caused by speech.PinThe world is governed by opinion.PinGod put me on this Earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I’m so far behind that I’ll never die.PinA man’s conscience and his judgment are the same thing, and, as the judgment, so also the conscience may be erroneous.PinNot believing in force is the same as not believing in gravitation.PinWhat is the heart but a spring, and the nerves but so many strings, and the joints but so many wheels, giving motion to the whole body?PinPrudence is but experience, which equal time, equally bestows on all men, in those things they equally apply themselves unto.PinThe praise of ancient authors proceeds not from the reverence of the dead, but from the competition and mutual envy of the living.
3 Thomas Hobbes Quotes on Government and Law
PinHow could a state be governed, or protected in its foreign relations if every individual remained free to obey or not to obey the law according to his private opinion.PinCovenants, without the sword, are but words and of no strength to secure a man at all.PinFor to accuse requires less eloquence, such is man’s nature, than to excuse; and condemnation, than absolution, more resembles justice.
2 Thomas Hobbes Quotes on Religion
PinFear of things invisible in the natural seed of that which everyone in himself calleth religion.PinReligions are like pills, which must be swallowed whole without chewing.
6 Thomas Hobbes Quotes on the Nature of Man
PinThe secret thoughts of a man run over all things, holy, profane, clean, obscene, grave, and light, without shame or blame.PinNo man’s error becomes his own Law; nor obliges him to persist in it.PinThe passions of men are commonly more potent than their reason.PinA man cannot lay down the right of resisting them that assault him by force, to take away his life.PinAll men, among themselves, are by nature equal. The inequality we now discern hath its spring from the civil law.PinAnd seeing every man is presumed to do all things in order to his own benefit, no man is a fit Arbitrator in his own cause.
2 Thomas Hobbes Quotes on Money
PinWords are the money of fools.PinUnnecessary laws are not good laws, but traps for money.
Overcoming depression and suicidal thoughts, Jeremiah Say found solace in quotes. After filling countless pages with resonating words, he moved his collection online to save trees and inspire others. Thus, GraciousQuotes.com was born. Jeremiah firmly believes in the power of quotes to swiftly spark inspiration during hard times. His blog is dedicated to uplifting others through these shared wisdoms. Discover more about Gracious Quotes or get in touch with Jeremiah.
