Quotes from Thomas Hobbes

E]very man . . . shuns what is evil, but chiefly the chiefest of natural evils, which is death; and this he doth, by a certain impulsion of nature, no less than that whereby a stone moves downward.

Cuando decimos que una cosa es infinita, significamos solamente que no somos capaces de abarcar los términos y límites de la cosa mencionada, con lo que no tenemos una concepción de la cosa, sino de nuestra propia incapacidad

IMAGINATION therefore is nothing but decaying sense; and is found in men, and many other living Creatures, as well sleeping, as waking.

If I had read as much as other men had, I would have known as little.

If I had read as many books as other people, I would know as little.

Ella para él y él para el Estado

it is incident most to them that are conscious of the fewest abilities in themselves who are forced to keep themselves in their own favor by observing the imperfections of other men. And therefore much laughter at the defects of others is a sign of pusillanimity. For of great minds, one of the proper works is to help and free others from scorn, and compare themselves only with the most able.

Sparsamkeit, so lobenswert sie auch für einen Privatmann ist, wäre dort übel angebracht, wo die Kräfte mehrerer Menschen in Bewegung gesetzt werden müssen, denn sie schwächt die Betriebsamkeit, die durch Belohnungen genährt und erhalten werden muss.

Give an inch, he'll take an ell.

During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.

Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.

War consisteth not in battle only, or the act of fighting; but in a tract of time, wherein the will to contend by battle is sufficiently known.

If men are naturally in a state of war, why do they always carry arms and why do they have keys to lock their doors?

Leisure is the mother of philosophy.

Passions unguided are for the most part mere madness.

If I had read as much as other men, I should have known no more than they.

Curiosity is a lust of the mind.

Understanding is nothing else than conception caused by speech.

It is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law

The original of all great and lasting societies consisted not in the mutual good will men had toward each other, but in the mutual fear they had of each other.

And seeing every man is presumed to do all things in order to his own benefit, no man is a fit Arbitrator in his own cause

The secret thoughts of a man run over all things, holy, profane, clean, obscene, grave, and light, without shame or blame.

If I read as many books as most men do, I would be as dull-witted as they are.

The passions of men are commonly more potent than their reason.