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Human Nature Quotes

Browse 4693 quotes about Human Nature.

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Human Nature Quotes

“He who expects from a great name in politics, in philosophy, in art, equal greatness in other things, is little versed in human nature. Our strength lies in our weakness. The learned in books are ignorant of the world. He who is ignorant of books is often well acquainted with other things; for life is of the same length in the learned and unlearned; the mind cannot be idle; if it is not taken up with one thing, it attends to another through choice or necessity; and the degree of previous capacity in one class or another is a mere lottery.”

IfsWorldMindHumansWellsLittlesArtBookPhilosophyLife IsLyingChoicesNamesClassTakenOne ThingHuman NatureGreatnessEqualDegreesWeaknessCapacityMereIgnorantLengthIdleLotteryVersatility
Book:Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)
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“Most men appear to think that the art of despotic government is statesmanship, and what men affirm to be unjust and inexpedient in their own case they are not ashamed of practicing towards others; they demand just rule for themselves, but where other men are concerned they care nothing about it. Such behavior is irrational; unless the one party is, and the other is not, born to serve, in which case men have a right to command, not indeed all their fellows, but only those who are intended to be subjects; just as we ought not to hunt mankind, whether for food or sacrifice . .”

ThinkingMenArtGovernmentCareBornPartyCasesSacrificeSubjectsMankindHuman NatureOughtDemandBehaviorConcernedFellowsCommandAshamedIrrationalUnjustHuntsStatesmanshipCommand Not
Author:Aristotle
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“Musick is certainly a very agreeable Entertainment, but if it would take the entire Possession of our Ears, if it would make us incapable of hearing Sense, if it would exclude Arts that have a much greater Tendency to the Refinement of human Nature; I must confess I would allow it no better Quarter than Plato has done, who banishes it out of his Common-wealth.”

IfsHumansArtDoneWealthCommonMusicGreaterHuman NatureMusicianEarsEntertainmentPossessionHearingTendenciesQuartersIncapablePlatoRefinement
Book:The Works of Joseph Addison: Including the Whole Contents of Bp. Hurd's Edition, with Letters and Other Pieces Not Found in Ay Previous Collection; and Macaulay's Essay on His Life and Works
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“Let those flatter, who fear: it is not an American art. To give praise where it is not due, might be well from the venal, but would ill beseem those who are asserting the rights of human nature.”

GivingHumansWellsArtMightRightsHuman NaturePraiseIllDuesFlattery
Book:Memoirs, Correspondence, and Private Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Late President of the United States
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“[T]he liberty, the unalienable, indefeasible rights of men, the honor and dignity of human nature, the grandeur and glory of the public, and the universal happiness of individuals, were never so skillfully and successfully consulted as in that most excellent monument of human art, the common law of England.”

MenHumansArtLawIndividualFreedomCommonLibertyRightsHuman NatureHonorGloryDignityUniversalEnglandExcellentMonumentGrandeurCommon LawUnalienable Rights
Book:The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: With a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations
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“Anyone living, especially your peers, is a threat. You're judging them, they're judging you. This sort of criticism is as close to human nature as you can get. That can be a good thing sometimes. Jealously, rancor, competition, those can be good things in art. But it mostly puts you in a dangerous and disadvantageous position, and one that just takes away from you so much.”

HumansArtSometimesDangerousHuman NaturePositionJudgingCriticismCompetitionGood ThingsThreatBe GoodPeersAway From YouJealouslyRancorJudging You
Author:Raymond Pettibon
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“A lot of people just go to movies that feed into their preexisting and not so noble needs and desires: They just go to action pictures, and things like that. But if you go to foreign films, if you go to documentaries, if you go to independent films, if you go to good films, you will become a better person because you will understand human nature better. Movies record human nature in a better way than any other art form, that's for sure.”

PeopleIfsWayNeedsHumansPersonsArtActionFilmFormDesireRecordsHuman NatureIndependentNobleDocumentariesBetter WaysBetter PersonIndependent FilmGood Films
Author:Roger Ebert
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“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.”

HumansKindArtWisdomSoundPleasureHealingMusicHuman NatureProduceHealthSelf ImprovementMusicalComposerDopePlaying MusicInspirational MusicPower Of MusicUniversal LanguageFunny MusicWithout MusicMusic LifeSound Of MusicMusic And LifeFamous MusicianMusic EducationSound And MusicMusical LifeOld MusicWords And MusicInstrumental MusicFun MusicMusical CompositionMusic TherapyLife Without MusicProducing Music
Author:Confucius
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“What art should be about,' they will say, 'is revealing exquisite and resonant truths about the human condition.' Well, to be honest - no, it shouldn’t. I mean, it can occasionally, if it wants to; but really, how many penetrating insights to human nature do you need in one lifetime? Two? Three? Once you’ve realised that no one else has a clue what they’re doing, either, and that love can be totally pointless, any further insights into human nature just start getting depressing really.”

IfsWantNeedsShouldHumansWellsMeanArtTwoThreeConditionsHonestHuman NatureLifetimeInsightBeing HonestHuman ConditionDepressingClueRevealingExquisiteRealisedPointless
Author:Caitlin Moran
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“Just as Darwin discovered the law of evolution in organic nature, so Marx discovered the law of evolution in human history; he discovered the simple fact, hitherto concealed by an overgrowth of idealogy [sic], that mankind must first of all eat and drink, have shelter and clothing, before it can pursue politics, science, religion, art etc.”

FirstsHumansArtFactsLawSimpleMankindHuman NatureEvolutionDrinkPursueEtcClothingsShelterHuman HistoryConcealedScience Religion
Author:Friedrich Engels
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“I believe in art that is connected to real human feeling, that extends itself beyond the limits of the art world to embrace all people who are striving for alternatives in an increasingly dehumanized world. I am trying to make art that relates to the deepest and most mythic concerns of human kind and I believe that, at this moment of history, feminism is humanism.”

PeopleWorldTryingBelieveHumansKindArtRealMomentsFeelingsHumanityI BelieveHistoryFeminismHuman NatureLimitsConcernEmbraceStriveHumanismFeministI Believe InConnectedMythAlternativesRelateHumanistExtendingArt WorldReal HumanDeepness
Author:Judy Chicago
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“Really to believe in human nature while striving to know the thousand forces that warp it from its ideal development - to call for and expect much from men and women, and not to be disappointed and embittered if they fall short - to try to do good with people rather than to them - this is my religion on its human side. And if God exists, I think that he must be in the warm sun, in the kindly actions of the people we know and read of, in the beautiful things of art and nature, and in the closeness of friendships.”

PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsMenTryingBelieveHumansArtActionBeautifulFallForceSidesSunHuman NatureDevelopmentThousandMen And WomenIdealsStriveWarmDisappointedBeautiful ThingsClosenessGod ExistsWarp
Author:Randolph Bourne
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“The process of writing can be a powerful tool for self-discovery. Writing demands self-knowledge; it forces the writer to become a student of human nature, to pay attention to his experience, to understand the nature of experience itself. By delving into raw experience and distilling it into a work of art, the writer is engaging in the heart and soul of philosophy - making sense out of life.”

LifeWritingHumansHeartArtSoulSelfPhilosophyForceProcessPowerfulPayAttentionHuman NatureStudentsDemandDiscoveryToolsExperienceSelf DiscoveryPay AttentionMake SenseWorks Of ArtSelf KnowledgeEngagingHeart And SoulDelving
Author:Georg Buhler
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“The miracle of Bach has not appeared in any other art. To strip human nature until its divine attributes are made clear, to inform ordinary activities with spiritual fervour, to give wings of eternity to that which is most ephemeral; to make divine things human and human things divine; such is Bach, the greatest and purest moment in music of all time.”

GivingHumansArtMadeMomentsSpiritualClearHuman NatureDivineActivityOrdinaryEternityMiracleWingsAll TimeAttributesEphemeral
Author:Pablo Casals
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“The ordinary politician has a very low estimate of human nature. In his daily life he comes into contact chiefly with persons who want to get something or to avoid something. Beyond this circle of seekers after privileges, individuals and organized minorities, he is aware of a large unorganized, indifferent mass of citizens who ask nothing in particular and rarely complain. The politician comes after a while to think that the art of politics is to satisfy the seekers after favors and to mollify the inchoate mass with noble sentiments and patriotic phrases.”

ThinkingWantHumansPersonsArtAsksPoliticsIndividualHuman NatureParticularCitizensPoliticianMassLowsOrdinaryPrivilegeNobleComplainingFavorsCirclesContactPhrasesOrganizedMinoritiesDaily LifePatrioticSentimentsIndifferentSeekers
Book:The Essential Lippmann: A Political Philosophy for Liberal Democracy
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“Graffiti is the art of the people. It is a language without clear official status, but whose instinctive quality testifies to the honesty of human experience and the true nobility of art. Often marked with a sense of eroticism and violence, the wall conserves something pure and sacred about the human story.”

ArtSufferingHumanityViolenceHuman NatureHonestySelf ExpressionGraffitiHuman LanguageEroticism
Book:In Search for Meaning
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