Politics and the state
“The condition of mere nature... is a condition of war of every man against every man.”
— Thomas Hobbes, The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 03 (of 11)
“The life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
— Thomas Hobbes, The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 03 (of 11)
“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.”
— John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
“Man is naturally a political animal.”
— Aristotle, Politics A Treatise on Government
“The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one.”
— Locke, Second Treatise of Government
“Because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved.”
— Machiavelli, The Prince
“Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio.”
— Thomas Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population
“All warfare is based on deception.”
— Sun Tzu, Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War The Oldest Military Treatise in the World
“The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty.”
— Rousseau, The social contract & discourses
“Virtue can only flourish amongst equals.”
— Mary Wollstonecraft, A vindication of the rights of men, in a letter to the Right Honourable Edmund B
“The foundation of Legislation was that utility which produced the greatest happiness to the greatest number.”
— Jeremy Bentham, Not Paul, but Jesus
“The safety of the people is the supreme law.”
— Cicero, On Divination and On the Laws (Yonge Treatises of Cicero)
“Philosophers have only interpreted the world in different ways. What is crucial, however, is to change it.”
— Karl Marx, Theses on Feuerbach
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
— Karl Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party
“Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it, and there will be an end to blind obedience.”
— Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
“He is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.”
— Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
“The increase of population is necessarily limited by the means of subsistence.”
— Thomas Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population
“A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction.”
— John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
“A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline.”
— Machiavelli, The Prince
“The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth.”
— Locke, Second Treatise of Government
“The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying "This is mine," and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society.”
— Rousseau, The social contract & discourses
“The worth of a State, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it.”
— John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
“The real price of every thing, what every thing really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.”
— Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
“That which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for the bee.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
“Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains. One thinks himself the master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they.”
— Rousseau, The social contract & discourses
“Covenants, without the Sword, are but Words, and of no strength to secure a man at all.”
— Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan