Quote

If this superstitious fear of Spirits were taken away, and with it, Prognostiques from Dreams, false Prophecies, and many other things depending thereon, by which, crafty ambitious persons abuse the simple people, men would be much more fitted then they are for civill Obedience.

Thomas Hobbes

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Thomas Hobbes
Age: 91 †
Born: 1588
Born: April 5
Died: 1679
Died: December 4
Economist
Historian
Mathematician
Philosopher
Political Scientist
Politician
Translator
Westport
Wiltshire
Hobbes
Thomas Hobbsted
Thomas Hobbes of Malflutry
Things
Simple
Depending
Would
Fear
Spirits
Men
Away
Ambitious
Thereon
People
Spirit
Obedience
Prophecies
Dream
Abuse
Crafty
Persons
False
Fitted
Many
Dreams
Superstitious
Much
Taken
Prophecy

More quotes by Thomas Hobbes

Image
Scientia potentia est, sed parva quia scientia egregia rara est, nec proinde apparens nisi paucissimis, et in paucis rebus. Scientiae enim ea natura est, ut esse intelligi non possit, nisi ab illis qui sunt scientia praediti.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
Life is nasty, brutish, and short
Thomas Hobbes
Image
And Beasts that have Deliberation , must necessarily also have Will .
Thomas Hobbes
Image
To understand this for sense it is not required that a man should be a geometrician or a logician, but that he should be mad.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
No man is bound by the words themselves, either to kill himselfe, or any other man.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
Felicity is a continual progress of the desire from one object to another, the attaining of the former being still but the way to the latter.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
To speak impartially, both sayings are very true: that man to man is a kind of God and that man to man is an arrant wolf. The first is true, if we compare citizens amongst themselves and the second, if we compare cities.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
The source of every crime, is some defect of the understanding or some error in reasoning or some sudden force of the passions. Defect in the understanding is ignorance in reasoning, erroneous opinion.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
When two, or more men, know of one and the same fact, they are said to be CONSCIOUS of it one to another which is as much as to know it together.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
All men, among themselves, are by nature equal. The inequality we now discern hath its spring from the civil law.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
For there are very few so foolish who would not rather govern themselves than be governed by others.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
Such truth, as opposeth no man's profit, nor pleasure, is to all men welcome.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
True and false are attributes of speech not of things. And where speech is not, there is neither truth nor falsehood. Error theremay be, as when we expect that which shall not be or suspect what has not been: but in neither case can a man be charged with untruth.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
Seeing then that truth consisteth in the right ordering of names in our affirmations, a man that seeketh precise truth, had need to remember what every name he uses stands for and to place it accordingly or else he will find himself entangled in words, as a bird in lime-twigs the more he struggles, the more belimed.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
The passions of men are commonly more potent than their reason.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
And this Feare of things invisible, is the naturall Seed of that, which every one in himself calleth Religion and in them that worship, or feare that Power otherwise than they do, Superstition.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
Obligation is thraldom, and thraldom is hateful.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
And seeing every man is presumed to do all things in order to his own benefit, no man is a fit Arbitrator in his own cause
Thomas Hobbes
Image
The value or worth of a man is, as of all other things, his price that is to say, so much as would be given for the use of his power.
Thomas Hobbes
Image
Ignorance of the law is no good excuse, where every man is bound to take notice of the laws to which he is subject.
Thomas Hobbes