Reading: Thomas Hobbes Quotes in Context

Thomas Hobbs Quotes in Context

1. “The condition of man... is a condition of war of everyone against everyone.”

In Leviathan, Hobbes argues that without a central authority or government, human beings live in a state of nature, where self-interest and survival dominate, leading to a "war of all against all." (Leviathan, Chapter 13)

2. “Life in the state of nature is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

Hobbes famously characterizes the state of nature as a place without laws or governance, where humans live in constant fear and insecurity. (Leviathan, Chapter 13)

3. “Covenants, without the sword, are but words and of no strength to secure a man at all.”

Hobbes argues that agreements or covenants between people have no power unless there is a strong authority to enforce them. (Leviathan, Chapter 17)

4. “The right of nature... is the liberty each man hath to use his own power as he will himself for the preservation of his own nature.”

Hobbes explains that in the state of nature, individuals have the right to do whatever is necessary for their survival, even if it means harming others. (Leviathan, Chapter 14)

5. “A man's conscience and his judgment is the same thing; and as the judgment, so also the conscience, may be erroneous.”

Hobbes points out that conscience is not infallible and can be based on incorrect judgments or misinformation.(Leviathan, Chapter 7)

6. “Fear and I were born twins.”

Hobbes often expressed his belief that fear, especially of death and insecurity, was a primary motivator in human behavior. (Quoted from John Aubrey’s Brief Lives)

7. “For it can never be that war shall preserve life, and peace destroy it.”

Hobbes emphasizes the necessity of peace for human preservation, as war inevitably leads to destruction. (Leviathan, Chapter 13)

8. “In the state of nature, profit is the measure of right.”

Hobbes explains that without law or authority, individuals act according to their own interests, and whatever benefits them becomes "right" in their eyes. (Leviathan, Chapter 13)

9. “Leisure is the mother of philosophy.”

Hobbes argues that only when people have free time, beyond the struggle for survival, can they reflect and engage in philosophical thought. (Leviathan, Chapter 46)

10. “The law is the public conscience.”

Hobbes posits that the law represents the collective conscience of society, enforcing what is deemed right and wrong.(Leviathan, Chapter 26)

11. “The obligation of subjects to the sovereign is understood to last as long, and no longer, than the power lasteth by which he is able to protect them.”

Hobbes explains the social contract, suggesting that citizens are bound to obey the sovereign as long as the sovereign provides protection. (Leviathan, Chapter 21)

12. “No man’s error becomes his own law; nor obliges him to persist in it.”

Hobbes suggests that just because someone makes an error in judgment doesn't mean they are obligated to continue in it.(Leviathan, Chapter 21)

13. “Words are the counters of wise men, and the money of fools.”

Hobbes warns against taking words at face value without understanding their true meaning, suggesting that wise men use words carefully. (Leviathan, Chapter 4)

14. “Curiosity is the lust of the mind.”

Hobbes describes curiosity as an inherent desire of the human mind to seek knowledge, comparing it to the body's lust for physical things. (Leviathan, Chapter 6)

15. “Authority, not truth, makes law.”

Hobbes argues that laws are determined by those in power, not by some abstract notion of truth or justice. (Leviathan, Chapter 26)

16. “For as long as every man holdeth this right, of doing anything he liketh; so long are all men in the condition of war.”

Hobbes explains that the individual right to do as one pleases, without any restrictions, leads to perpetual conflict.(Leviathan, Chapter 14)

17. “Hell is truth seen too late.”

Hobbes refers to the consequences of realizing the truth only when it's too late to act upon it, a punishment in itself.(Leviathan, Chapter 38)

18. “The passions that incline men to peace are fear of death, desire of such things as are necessary to commodious living, and a hope by their industry to obtain them.”

Hobbes believes that fear of death and the desire for comfort drive people to seek peace rather than conflict. (Leviathan, Chapter 13)

19. “Because the major part hath by consenting voices declared a sovereign, he that dissented must now consent with the rest.”

Hobbes argues that once a sovereign is chosen by the majority, even those who initially opposed must submit to the decision. (Leviathan, Chapter 18)

20. “The Papacy is no other than the ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof.”

Hobbes criticizes the power of the Papacy, suggesting it is merely the remnant of Roman imperial authority. (Leviathan, Chapter 47)

21. “For seeing life is but a motion of limbs... why may we not say, that all automata (engines that move themselves by springs and wheels as doth a watch) have an artificial life?”

Hobbes draws an analogy between human beings and machines, arguing that life is fundamentally mechanical.(Leviathan, Introduction)

22. “Covenants, without the sword, are but words and of no strength to secure a man at all.”

Hobbes argues that agreements or covenants require the force of law and authority to ensure they are upheld. (Leviathan, Chapter 17)

23. “For the laws of nature... of themselves, without the terror of some power to cause them to be observed, are contrary to our natural passions.”

Hobbes contends that natural laws, which dictate peace and order, require enforcement to counteract human selfishness and aggression. (Leviathan, Chapter 17)

24. “Appetite, with an opinion of attaining, is called hope; the same, without such opinion, despair.”

Hobbes describes the nature of human emotions, linking hope and despair to the presence or absence of belief in success.(Leviathan, Chapter 6)

25. “When all the world is overcharged with inhabitants, then the last remedy of all is war, which provideth for every man, by victory or death.”

Hobbes foresees war as a grim solution to overpopulation and scarcity, where conflict determines survival. (Leviathan, Chapter 13)