Thomas Hobbes Quotes
Thomas Hobbes was a 17th-century English philosopher whose 1651 book Leviathan is one of the founding texts of modern political philosophy and social contract theory. Writing during and after the English Civil War, he argued that in the natural condition of mankind, without an overarching political authority, life would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. The quotes below are attributed to Thomas Hobbes, organized by topic.
Thomas Hobbes on Freedom
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Attributed to Thomas Hobbes:
“Liberty is the absence of external impediments to motion.”
Thomas Hobbes on God
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Attributed to Thomas Hobbes:
“Fear of things invisible is the natural seed of that which everyone in himself calleth religion.”
Thomas Hobbes on Knowledge
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Attributed to Thomas Hobbes:
“Words are the counters of wise men, but the money of fools.”
Thomas Hobbes on Life
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Attributed to Thomas Hobbes:
“And the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
Thomas Hobbes on Mind
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Attributed to Thomas Hobbes:
“Curiosity is the lust of the mind.”
Thomas Hobbes on Politics
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Attributed to Thomas Hobbes:
“The war of all against all.”
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Attributed to Thomas Hobbes:
“Covenants without the sword are but words, and of no strength to secure a man at all.”
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Attributed to Thomas Hobbes:
“The condition of man is a condition of war of every one against every one.”
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Attributed to Thomas Hobbes:
“He that is to govern a whole nation must read in himself, not this or that particular man, but mankind.”
Thomas Hobbes on Truth
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Attributed to Thomas Hobbes:
“Such truth as opposes no man's profit, nor pleasure, is to all men welcome.”