Quotes About Human nature

Dio ama la violenza. Tu capisci, non è così? Altrimenti perché ce ne sarebbe così tanta? La violenza è dentro di noi. Sgorga da noi. È la cosa che ci viene più naturale, prima ancora di respirare. Noi scateniamo guerre. Pratichiamo sacrifici. Saccheggiamo e straziamo le carni dei nostri fratelli. Riempiamo campi immensi di morti, della loro puzza. E perché? Per mostrare a Lui che abbiamo imparato dal Suo esempio.

Por supuesto. —Echó un trago—. El mundo es violento, Patrick. La gente disfruta matando. Porque… —Les da poder —dijo Oscar. —Exactamente —reconoció Devin—. Tiene que haber algo en ello que te hace sentir la hostia de bien. Todo ese poder… —Se encogió de hombros—. Pero ¿para qué te explicamos esto si tú ya lo sabes?

There is no limit to suffering human beings have been willing to inflict on others, no matter how innocent, no matter how young, and no matter how old. This fact must lead all reasonable human beings, that is, all human being who take evidence seriously, to draw only one possible conclusion: Human nature is not basically good.

psychiatrist Dr. Abraham Twerski puts it, "Human beings need four things: air, food, drink, and someone to blame.

Human beings want to be happy, and they have a right to want to be. Far from being a selfish or ignoble goal, this is one of the distinguishing features of human beings. To the extent that animals can be said to want anything, what they want is to avoid pain and to be sated, but not to be happy.

Human beings tend to much more quickly forget the good others have done for them than the bad others have done to them. That's human nature.

We live in a world in which people can do unbelievably beautiful or unbelievably horrible things to other people. And if those horrible acts argue against the existence of God, then the beautiful acts must argue for God's existence.

That human nature is the greatest single obstacle to happiness is too rarely pointed out by those who speak or write about happiness. First, it strikes many people as too pessimistic. Second, citing our own nature as the greatest obstacle to happiness means that to be happy, we have to battle ourselves, and this is not something many people want to hear. Third, it undermines the common desire to attribute one's unhappiness to outside forces.

Most people believe if God performed a miracle—just one miracle—for them, they would surely and permanently believe in God. But, as explained in the commentary to Exodus 16:2, human nature doesn't work that way. The power of witnessing a miracle wears off quickly, and most individuals soon need (or merely want) another miracle. Over time, most people's attitude toward those who have done something good for them is: "What have you done for me lately?

I am part animal and part God.

The most important thing to understand when it comes to our baser parts is not only how normal and natural it is to have them but that there is nothing wrong in having them. Bad is doing bad, not thinking bad (there are exceptions—see the next chapter), and it is certainly not merely having bad tendencies.

He taught us that everyone has a good story and the more of others you understand, the better your grasp of human nature, a gift given great weight in my family (73). - Bill Clinton, Paying Attention

He taught us that everyone has a story and the more you understand, the better your grasp of human nature, a gift given great weight in my family (73) - Bill Clinton Paying Attention

People are not born hating each other and wishing to cause harm. It is a learned condition.

You do know that women aren't rational, don't you?" "I do. Neither are men." "Well, you have a point

After all, it's human nature to put the best face on things when you know someone will read what you've written. People tend to concentrate on the things they think important, and often enough, they tidy it up a bit for public consumption.

I luxuriated in that delightful feeling that comes when we observe someone having to do something unpleasant that we are not required to do ourselves.

Well, he is human. And perhaps he's not a monster yet.

Now, I am not basically a nice person. I _am_ snice, arrogant, and short-tempered. I try to overcome these things, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

I believe the key to solving everything from individual problems to the global environmental crisis or political and religious conflicts is to be found in restoring this link with the great life force. By recovering our natural healing ability and the goodness of human nature, we can create a truly peaceful, sustainable world. And I don't believe that these are things that social institutions or prestigious experts can do for us: they must happen within each and every one of us.

From timber so crooked as that from which man is carved, nothing entirely straight can be made.

Na Auschwitz is het overbodig over de menselijke natuur te oordelen.

Indeed, the Japanese have recourse to risibility whenever the frailties of human nature are put to severest test. I think we possess a better reason than Democritus himself for our Abderian tendency; for laughter with us oftenest veils an effort to regain balance of temper, when disturbed by any untoward circumstance. It is a counterpoise of sorrow or rage.

I myself am a person who has never resigned myself, who is absolutely never resigned, who can't imagine it at all. I simply observe, and I observe in so many people, and often very quickly, a resignation that terrifies me, that's it.