Quotes About Human nature

The feelings of our heart, the agitation of our passions, the vehemence of our affections, dissipate all its conclusions, and reduce the profound philosopher to a mere plebeian

Scepticism may be theoretically irrefutable, but even the sceptic must 'act … and live, and converse, like other men', since human nature gives him no choice.

As every inquiry which regards religion is of the utmost importance, there are two questions in particular which challenge our attention, to wit, that concerning its foundation in reason, and that concerning it origin in human nature.

It is, therefore, a just political maxim, that every man must be supposed a knave.

The science of man is the only solid foundation for the other sciences. [All the other sciences] have a relation, greater or lesser, to human nature. 'Tis impossible to tell what changes and improvements we might make in these sciences were we thoroughly acquainted with the extent and force of human understanding, and could explain the nature of the ideas we employ, and of the operations we perform in our reason.

study of human nature was in a sorry state. While he had reservations about the ancient philosophers for depending 'more on Invention than Experience', he found modern philosophers –

Nada es tan cierto como que los hombres se guían en gran medida por el interés y que aun cuando se preocupan por algo que trasciende de ellos mismos no llegan muy lejos;

No existe cualidad de la naturaleza humana que cause errores más fatales en nuestra conducta que la que nos lleva a preferir lo que es presente a lo distante y lo remoto y nos hace desear los objetos más por su situación que por su valor intrínseco.

If I've learned anything over the years, it's that the truth is generally a little unexpected, or even illogical, since we humans aren't entirely rational. Whereas lies, as a rule, tend to be consistent and comprehensive and often sound like a cliché - especially if the liars aren't very good.

A kid might help another kid who fell into a river, and a kid might help another kid search for a lost baseball, but there isn't a kid I've met who will help another kid out of a humiliating situation. We just aren't built that way.

Human beings can always be relied upon to exert, with vigor, their God-given right to be stupid.

God is Dead; but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown. And we - we still have to vanquish his shadow, too.

Thankfully, God's restraining grace keeps even the worst of us from being utterly depraved. The worst people who have ever lived could've been worse.

People believe in God because we are pattern-seeking, storytelling, mythmaking, religious, moral animals.

There are two restraints which God has laid upon human nature, shame and fear; shame is the weaker, and has place only in those in whom there are some reminders of virtue.

Let us never forget that the greatest man is never more than an animal disguised as a god.

Among the many strange servilities mistaken for pieties, one of the least lovely is that which hopes to flatter God by despising the world, and vilifying human nature.

Of all the doctrines of the Bible none is so offensive to human nature as the doctrine of God's sovereignty.

Human beings seem to be a poor invention. If they are the noblest works of God where is the ignoblest?

Reason is God's gift, but so are the passions. Reason is as guilty as passion.

Left to ourselves we tend immediately to reduce God to manageable terms.

Religion is the reaction of human nature to its search for God.

If God were to remove all evil from our world (but somehow leave human beings on the planet), it would mean that the essence of 'humanness' would be destroyed. We would become robots.

The human race is not very admirable. It was a big mistake of God's.