Philosophy Quotes

"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm."

"What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?"

"There is no maxim in my opinion which is more established in the law of nations than this, that for the safety of the whole, a part may be sacrificed."

"The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests."

"There is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust."

"The inference to which we are led is that the causes of faction are sown in the nature of man."

"Philosophers of all periods have attempted to explain the principles of good government."

"To judge of the form of a government, we must examine the principles upon which it is founded."

"No truth is more established in the science of human nature than this."

"If there is ever to be an amelioration of the condition of mankind, philosophers and theorists must plan it. It cannot be done by moralists and politicians alone."

"Every law that a man makes has its root in selfishness."

"Selfishness must ever be the ruling principle of human actions."

"The greatest battles are often fought in the realm of ideas."

"The heart knows its own reasons before the mind can justify them."

"The soul recognizes its own corruption before the world does."

"The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem, the seat of the occurrences which have furnished the very basis of theology."

"The principles of all conduct ought not to be in the man but above him."

"Philosophy teaches us to question our assumptions and seek deeper truths."

"Philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom, not the possession of it."

"Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil."

"The diversity in the faculties of men from which the rights of property originate is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests."

"As long as the reason of man continues fallible his opinions will be discordant."

"The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God, and however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true in fact."

"Men are reasoning rather than reasonable animals."

"The institution of delegated power implies that there is a power superior to the delegate."

"We are neither gods nor beasts, but something between the two."

"The human species is composed of two sorts of people."

"The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, anarchy and tyranny commence."

"There is a union between the philosopher and the practical man that cannot be broken."

"The human heart is as full of subtlety and strategy as it is of feeling."