Samuel Clarke Quotes
Samuel Clarke was an English Anglican clergyman and philosopher of religion, a close associate of Newton and the foremost rationalist theologian of his age. His Boyle Lectures of 1704 and 1705, A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God and A Discourse concerning the Unchangeable Obligations of Natural Religion, set out a celebrated cosmological argument for a self-existent first cause and a strictly rationalist account of moral obligation. The quotes below are attributed to Samuel Clarke, organized by topic.
Samuel Clarke on Freedom
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Attributed to Samuel Clarke:
“Liberty is the power of self-determination of action.”
Samuel Clarke on God
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Attributed to Samuel Clarke:
“Whatever exists must have a cause or a ground for existing.”
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Attributed to Samuel Clarke:
“There is necessarily an eternal and self-existent being.”
Samuel Clarke on Virtue
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Attributed to Samuel Clarke:
“Right and wrong are founded in the eternal nature of things.”
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Attributed to Samuel Clarke:
“Moral truths are as eternal and necessary as those of mathematics.”