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Human Nature Quotes

Browse 4693 quotes about Human Nature.

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Human Nature Quotes

“I can easily believe it. Women of that class have great opportunities, and if they are intelligent may be well worth listening to. Such varieites of human nature as they are in the habit of witnessing! And it is not merely in its follies, that they are read; for they see it occasionally under every circumstance that can be most interesting or affecting. What instances must pass before them of ardent, disinterested, self-denying attachment, of heroism, fortitude, patience, resignation-- of all the sacrifices that ennoble us most. A sick chamber may often furnish the worth of volumes.”

IfsBelieveHumansWellsMayI CanSelfOpportunityInterestingClassSacrificeHuman NatureListeningHabitCircumstancesSickIntelligentInstanceFollyAttachmentHeroismVolumeFortitudeChamberMost InterestingResignationArdentGreat OpportunityDisinterestedAnne Elliot
Author:Jane Austen
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“There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better: we find comfort somewhere.”

IfsFirstsHumansLittlesTurnsAttitudeToo MuchFailingHuman NatureComfortExpectationsDisappointmentSchemesCalculationsStart The DayMansfield Park
Book:8 Books in 1: Jane Austen's Complete Novels. Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Lady Susan, and Love an
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“Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth.”

PeopleIfsHumansMayChildrenLongEarthNatureGenerationsHuman NatureRootsFortuneSeriesStrikesMy ChildrenSoilWornPotatoesWorn OutBirthplace
Author:Nathaniel Hawthorne
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“The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.”

IfsFirstsHumansLawPoliticalTimeFightingPoliticsFreedomLibertyDemocracyTroubleHuman NatureOppressionFreedom And LibertyScoundrelsHuman FreedomPolitical WillPolitical FreedomFighting For FreedomPolitical Oppression
Author:H. L. Mencken
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“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

PeopleIfsLoveLifeInspirationalHumansHeartPersonsInspirationMotivationalReligionHatePeaceBornCommunityInspiringLearningSocietyHuman NaturePositiveTaughtColorPoliticianRacismHatredSkinsOppositesI HateBackgroundsDiscriminationHatedLgbtSouth AfricaHuman HeartLove HateApartheidHuman DignityLove And HateHate PeopleSkin ColorHate HimAnti RacismLearning To LoveLong WalksLong Walk To FreedomLove Or HateEducation And FreedomI Hate PeoplePeace HarmonyPeace And ToleranceAnti DiscriminationInspirational FreedomNo HateHated LoveHate ReligionHate GodDiscrimination And RacismEnding RacismNatural LoveAgainst RacismJustice And Love
Author:Nelson Mandela
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“Religion is not about accepting twenty impossible propositions before breakfast, but about doing things that change you. It is a moral aesthetic, an ethical alchemy. If you behave in a certain way, you will be transformed. The myths and laws of religion are not true because they they conform to some metaphysical, scientific or historical reality but because they are life enhancing. They tell you how human nature functions, but you will not discover their truth unless you apply these myths and doctrines to your own life and put them into practice.”

IfsWayLifeHumansRealityTruthLawCertainReligionChangeAcceptingMoralPracticeImpossibleHuman NatureAcceptanceEthicsDiscoveryFunctionTwentiesTransformationHistoricalMythDoctrineBehaveBreakfastEthicalAestheticTransformedConformPropositionsMetaphysicalAestheticsAlchemyFamous WomenSelf TransformationSpiritual TransformationEnhancement
Author:Karen Armstrong
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“Could you understand the meaning of light if there were no darkness to point the contrast? Day and night, life and death, love and hatred, since none of these things can have any being at all apart from the existence of the other, you can no more separate them than you can separate the two sides of a coin.”

IfsHumansHardLightNightSidesExistenceDarknessHuman NatureHatredLife And DeathContrastDay And NightPierceIndolenceHatred And Love
Author:Elizabeth Goudge
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“Some people think that evolutionary psychology claims to have discovered that human nature is selfish and wicked. But they are flattering the researchers and anyone who would claim to have discovered the opposite. No one needs a scientist to measure whether humans are prone to knavery. The question has been answered in the history books, the newspapers, the ethnographic record, and the letters to Ann Landers. But people treat it like an open question, as if someday science might discover that it's all a bad dream and we will wake up to find that it is human nature to love one another.”

PeopleIfsThinkingNeedsHumansHas BeensBookDreamMightPsychologyRecordsHuman NatureLettersOppositesScientistTreatsClaimsWake UpSelfishNewspapersWickedSomedayEvolutionary PsychologyResearchersFlatteringLove One AnotherHistory BooksBad DreamKnavery
Author:Steven Pinker
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“One of the less attractive aspects of human nature is our tendency to hate the people we haven't treated very well; it's much easier than accepting guilt. If we can convince ourselves that the people we betrayed or enslaved were subhuman monsters in the first place, then our guilt isn't nearly so black as we secretly know that it is. Humans are very, very good at shifting blame and avoiding guilt.”

PeopleIfsKnowsFirstsHumansWellsHateBlackAcceptingHuman NatureHavensAcceptanceEasierAspectBlameGuiltVery GoodBetrayalMonstersTreatedTendenciesGuiltyAttractiveConvinceAvoidingBetrayedConvincingShiftingEnslavement
Author:David Eddings
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“Satanism advocates practicing a modified form of the Golden Rule. Our interpretation of this rule is: "Do unto others as they do unto you"; because if you "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," and they, in turn, treat you badly, it goes against human nature to continue to treat them with consideration. You should do unto others as you would have them do unto you, but if your courtesy is not returned, they should be treated with the wrath they deserve.”

IfsShouldHumansFormTurnsHuman NatureDeserveTreatsTreatedGoldenConsiderationInterpretationWrathCourtesyGolden RuleSatanicDo Unto OthersSatanismSatanist
Author:Anton Szandor LaVey
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“If you think about human nature, our favourite pair of shoes are the ones we bought yesterday, our favourite thing is the newest thing that we have…and the thing we’ve seen the most and for the longest period of time is our reflection in the mirror, so obviously that’s going to be our least favourite thing.”

IfsThinkingHumansHuman NaturePeriodsReflectionMirrorsShoesYesterdayPairsFavouritePair Of ShoesFavourite Things
Author:Taylor Swift
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“What I am really saying is that you don’t need to do anything, because if you see yourself in the correct way, you are all as much extraordinary phenomenon of nature as trees, clouds, the patterns in running water, the flickering of fire, the arrangement of the stars, and the form of a galaxy. You are all just like that, and there is nothing wrong with you at all.”

IfsWayNeedsRunningFormStarsWaterInspiringFireTreeHuman NatureExtraordinaryCloudsPatternsPhenomenonArrangementsGalaxyRunning Water
Book:Still the Mind: An Introduction to Meditation
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“So from then on, he looked at all his choices and said, What would a good person do, and then did it. But he has now learned something very important about human nature. If you spend your whole life pretending to be good, then you are indistinguishable from a good person. Relentless hypocrisy eventually becomes the truth.”

IfsHumansPersonsSaidImportantWholeChoicesHuman NatureBe GoodWhole LifeHypocrisyPretendingGood PeopleGood PersonRelentless
Author:Orson Scott Card
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“I think war is just part of human nature. And I’m fascinated by human nature – especially the dark side. I always have been. It doesn’t make me a Devil worshipper, no more than being interested in Hitler makes me a Nazi. I mean, if I’m a Nazi, how come I married a woman who’s half Jewish?”

IfsThinkingHumansMeanHas BeensWarSidesDarkHalfHuman NatureMarriedDevilFascinatedNaziDark SideWorshippers
Book:I Am Ozzy
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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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“If you will think about what you ought to do for other people, your character will take care of itself. Character is a by-product, and any man who devotes himself to its cultivation in his own case will become a selfish prig.”

PeopleIfsThinkingMenInspirationalCharacterCareCasesHuman NatureProductsOughtTake CareSelfishServingServing OthersCultivationBuilding Character
Book:Selected Addresses and Public Papers of Woodrow Wilson
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“When the days become longer and there is more sunshine, the grass becomes fresh and, consequently, we feel very happy. On the other hand, in autumn, one leaf falls down and another leaf falls down. The beautiful plants become as if dead and we do not feel very happy. Why? I think it is because deep down our human nature likes construction, and does not like destruction. Naturally, every action which is destructive is against human nature. Constructiveness is the human way. Therefore, I think that in terms of basic human feeling, violence is not good. Non-violence is the only way.”

IfsThinkingWayFeelsHumansDoeFeelingsHandsActionBeautifulFallTermViolenceHuman NatureDestructionDown AndPlantLikesBuddhistGrassDestructiveSunshineAutumnConstructionVery HappyLeafsFalling DownDeep DownNon Violence
Author:Dalai Lama
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“Society is not a mere sum of individuals. Rather, the system formed by their association represents a specific reality which has its own characteristics... The group thinks, feels, and acts quite differently from the way in which its members would were they isolated. If, then, we begin with the individual, we shall be able to understand nothing of what takes place in the group.”

IfsThinkingWayFeelsRealityAbleIndividualGroupsHuman NatureMembersMereCharacteristicsAssociationIsolatedIf Then
Author:Emile Durkheim
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“The human body is capable of amazing physical deeds. If we could just free ourselves from our perceived limitations and tap into our internal fire, the possibilities are endless.”

IfsInspirationalHumansBodyRunningBeliefSportsFireHuman NaturePossibilityCapableConvictionDeedsBoundariesEndlessLimitationPerceiveInternalsHuman BodyLimitlessInfinite PossibilitiesLimiting BeliefsUltra RunningUltra Marathon
Book:Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner
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“There are no perfect human beings! Persons can be found who are good, very good indeed, in fact, great. There do in fact exist creators, seers, sages, saints, shakers, and movers...even if they are uncommon and do not come by the dozen. And yet these very same people can at times be boring, irritating, petulant, selfish, angry, or depressed. To avoid disillusionment with human nature, we must first give up our illusions about it.”

PeopleIfsGivingFirstsHumansPersonsFactsFoundHuman BeingsPerfectHuman NatureGiving UpIllusionPerfectionAngryVery GoodSaintCreatorBoringSelfishDozenSageUncommonDisillusionmentIrritatingSeersShakers
Author:Abraham Maslow
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“Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source of serious evils.”

IfsHumansMaySometimesCareEvilHuman NatureSeriousSourceSlaveryAbolitionAbolition Of SlaverySlavery Freedom
Book:The Works of Benjamin Franklin: Containing Several Political and Historical Tracts Not Included in Any Former Edition, and Many Letters, Official and Private, Not Hitherto Published; with Notes and a Life of the Author
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“In Macbeth a lady is restrained from the murder of a king by his resemblance of her father as he slept. Should not all men be restrained from acts of violence and even of unkindness against their fellow men by observing in them something which resembles the Savior of the World? If nothing else certainly, a human figure?”

IfsMenWorldShouldHumansFatherViolenceHuman NatureFiguresKingsMurderFellowsSaviorObservingFellow ManResemblanceActs Of ViolenceUnkindness
Author:Benjamin Rush
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