John Locke Quotes
John Locke was an English philosopher and physician, regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. In the Essay Concerning Human Understanding he argued that the mind begins as a tabula rasa, with all knowledge derived from experience. The quotes below are attributed to John Locke, organized by topic.
Browse John Locke by topic
John Locke on Freedom
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“The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom.”
Second Treatise of Government , Ch. VI, sec. 57 -
“Where there is no law, there is no freedom.”
Second Treatise of Government , Ch. VI, sec. 57
John Locke on God
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“The good King of France desires only that you would take his word and let him be quiet till he has got the West Indies into his hands and his grandson well established in Spain, and then you may be sure you shall be as safe as he will let you be in your religion, property and trade, to all which who can be such an infidel as not to believe him a great friend?”
Letter to Peter King (5 April 1701), quoted in Maurice Cranston, John Locke: A Biography (1957; 1985), p. 452
John Locke on Justice
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“All mankind being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.”
Second Treatise of Government , Ch. II, sec. 6
John Locke on Knowledge
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“No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience.”
Book II, Ch. 1, sec. 19 -
“It is one thing to show a man that he is in error, and another to put him in possession of truth.”
Book IV, Ch. 7, sec. 11 -
“There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected questions of a child than the discourses of men.”
Sec. 121 -
Attributed to John Locke:
“Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company, and reflection must finish him.”
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“New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not common.”
Dedicatory epistle, as quoted in Fred R Shapiro (2006). The Yale Book of Quotations . Yale University Press. p. 468. ISBN 0-300-10798-6 . -
“But there is only one thing which gathers people into seditious commotion, and that is oppression .”
A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689) -
“A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)”
But there is only one thing which gathers people into seditious commotion, and that is oppression .
John Locke on Love
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“To love truth for truth's sake is the principal part of human perfection in this world , and the seed-plot of all other virtues .”
Letter to Anthony Collins (29 October 1703)
John Locke on Mind
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“Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.”
As quoted in "Hand Book : Caution and Counsels" in The Common School Journal Vol. 5, No. 24 (15 December 1843) by Horace Mann , p. 371 -
“The three great things that govern mankind are reason, passion and superstition. The first governs a few, the two last share the bulk of mankind and possess them in their turns. But superstition most powerfully produces the greatest mischief.”
Journal entry (16 May 1681), quoted in Maurice Cranston, John Locke: A Biography (1957; 1985), p. 200
John Locke on Nature
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“Wit and good nature meeting in a fair young lady as they do in you make the best resemblance of an angel that we know; and he that is blessed with the conversation and friendship of a person so extraordinary enjoys all that remains of paradise in this world.”
Letter to Mary Clarke (7 May 1682), quoted in Maurice Cranston, John Locke: A Biography (1957; 1985), p. 221
John Locke on Politics
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“Government has no other end, but the preservation of property.”
Second Treatise of Government , Ch. VII. sec. 94
John Locke on Virtue
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Attributed to John Locke:
“The dread of evil is a much more forcible principle of human actions than the prospect of good.”
Things actually not said by John Locke
A number of widely-shared lines are circulated as John Locke but are in fact from someone else. Did John Locke say these? No. Each entry below pairs the line with the person who actually wrote it.
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Did John Locke say this? No.
“That which is static and repetitive is boring. That which is dynamic and random is confusing. In between lies art.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: This statement has been attributed to John A. Locke, but John Locke did not have a middle name. The words "dynamic," "boring" and "repetitive," found in this quote, were not yet in use in Locke's time. (See The Online Etymology Dictionary .) John A. Locke is listed on one site as having lived from 1
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Did John Locke say this? No.
“The people cannot delegate to government the power to do anything which would be unlawful for them to do themselves.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: This might be a paraphrase of some of Locke's expressions or ideas, but the earliest publication of the statement in this form seems to be one made in Oversight Hearing on the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act (1997).
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Did John Locke say this? No.
“We are like chameleons; we take our hue and the color of our moral character from those who are around us.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: Attributed to Locke on various quotes sites and on social media, this quotation is a false rendering of "We are all a sort of chameleons, that still take a tincture from things near us: nor is it to be wondered at in children, who better understand what they see, than what they hear" from Some Thoug