Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy. His 1651 book Leviathan established social contract theory, the foundation of most later Western political philosophy...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth5 April 1588
secret body enough
For as to the strength of body, the weakest has strength enough to kill the strongest, either by secret machination or by confederacy with others that are in the same danger with himself
mind pace ends
It's not the pace of life I mind. It's the sudden stop at the end.
sick religion pills
For it is with the mysteries of our religion, as with wholesome pills for the sick, which swallowed whole, have the virtue to cure; but chewed, are for the most part cast up again without effect.
leviathan opinion orthodox
They that approve a private opinion, call it opinion; but they that dislike it, heresy; and yet heresy signifies no more than private opinion.
authority-and-power desire leviathan
I put for the general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death.
leviathan empires sitting
The Papacy is not other than the Ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof.
desire fit capacity
... it is one thing to desire, another to be in capacity fit for what we desire.
knowledge done action
The end of knowledge is power ... the scope of all speculation is the performing of some action or thing to be done.
knowledge two remembrance
By this we may understand, there be two sorts of knowledge, whereof the one is nothing else but sense, or knowledge original (as I have said at the beginning of the second chapter), and remembrance of the same; the other is called science or knowledge of the truth of propositions, and how things are called, and is derived from understanding.
darkness leap last-words
It's my turn, to take a leap into the darkness!
mind intellectual facts
All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain.
ignorance passion men
And in these four things, opinion of ghosts , ignorance of second causes, devotion towards what men fear , and taking of things casual for prognostics , consisteth the natural seed of religion ; which by reason of the different fancies, judgments and passions of several men, has grown up into ceremonies so different, that those which are used by one man, are for the most part ridiculous to another.
beast deliberation
And Beasts that have Deliberation , must necessarily also have Will .
passion men names
From the same it proceedeth,that men gives different names, to one and the same thing, from the difference of their own passions: As they that approve a private opinion, call it Opinion; but they that mislike it, Haeresie: and yet haeresie signifies no more than private opinion; but has only agreater tincture of choler