Thomas Hobbes
Author of 'Leviathan', he argued for a strong sovereign power to prevent chaos in society.
Quotes by Thomas Hobbes
The greatest of all earthly powers is that which is composed of the greatest number of men, united by consent, in one person, natural or artificial.
Moral philosophy is nothing else but the science of what is good, and evil, in the conversation, and society of mankind.
The end of all knowledge is the power of action.
Whatsoever is the object of any man's appetite or desire, that is it which he for his part calleth good: and the object of his hate and aversion, evil.
The passion of laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from some sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly.
For there is no such Finis Ultimus, utmost aim, nor Summum Bonum, greatest good, as is spoken of in the books of the old moral philosophers.
And because the condition of man... is a condition of war of every one against every one; in which case every one is governed by his own reason; and there is nothing he can make use of, that may not be a help unto him, in preserving his life against his enemies.
The laws of nature are immutable and eternal.
The desire of safety, and the interest of men, are the two springs of all human actions.
Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.
The passion of fear is not a thing to be ashamed of, but a thing to be understood.
All men are by nature equal.
The source of all felicity is the desire of power.
The only way to obtain lasting peace is to give up some individual liberties for the sake of a strong central authority.
The authority of the sovereign is absolute and indivisible.
For what is it to believe, but to acknowledge that what is said is true?
The proper object of fear is the power of the sovereign.
The common people's minds are like clean paper, fit to receive whatsoever by public authority shall be imprinted in them.
The science of every subject is derived from a precognition of the definitions, properties, and accidents of the same.
It is not wisdom but authority that makes a law.