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.
Browse Samuel Clarke 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 Life
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“Absolute certainty of our vocation has never been granted through ordinary means, although we may be allowed to believe its existence, when time and results have, so to speak, proved the reality of one's election.”
Memoirs
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.”