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Human Nature Quotes

Browse 4693 quotes about Human Nature.

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Human Nature Quotes

“Pride... is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed; that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or the other, real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”

ThinkingBelieveHumansMayPersonsDifferentRealSelfFeelingsUsedI BelieveCommonQualityOpinionFailingHuman NaturePrideProudConvincedVanityRelateVainScoreDifferent ThingsCherishImaginaryBe ProudComplacencyVanity And Pride
Author:Jane Austen
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“Under capitalism the common man enjoys amenities which in ages gone by were unknown and therefore inaccessible even to the richest people. But, of course, these motorcars, television sets and refrigerators do not make a man happy. In the instant in which he acquires them, he may feel happier than he did before. But as soon as some of his wishes are satisfied, new wishes spring up. Such is human nature.”

PeopleMenFeelsHumansMayAgeCoursesWishEnjoyCommonGoneHuman NatureTelevisionSpringCapitalismSatisfiedInstantAcquireCommon ManRefrigeratorsInaccessibleAmenities
Author:Ludwig von Mises
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“How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it.”

MenMayHappinessInterestPleasureCompassionPrinciplesSeeingHuman NatureEmpathyEconomicsFortuneInvestingSelfishAltruismSelf InterestWealth Of NationsSelfish MenSelfish Interest
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Adam Smith (Illustrated)
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“Even the sober desire for progress is sustained by faith—faith in the intrinsic goodness of human nature and in the omnipotence of science. It is a defiant and blasphemous faith, not unlike that held by the men who set out to build a "city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven" and who believed that "nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”

MenHumansMayDesireHeavenCitiesProgressHuman NatureGoodnessTowersSoberOmnipotenceProgressivism
Book:The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
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“There's no "should" or "should not" when it comes to having feelings. They're part of who we are and their origins are beyond our control. When we can believe that, we may find it easier to make constructive choices about what to do with those feelings.”

ShouldBelieveMayFeelingsChoicesEasyHuman NatureTelevisionEasierWho We AreConstructive
Book:You Are Special: Words of Wisdom for All Ages from a Beloved Neighbor
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“The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of Government. But what is Government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?”

MenShouldHumansMayGovernmentPoliticsInterestRightsHuman NatureHe ManReflectionAbuseConnectedDevicesFederalistFederalist PapersConstitutional Rights
Book:The Federalist, on the New Constitution, Written in the Year 1788
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“There is no need to sally forth, for it remains true that those things which make us human are, curiously enough, always close at hand. Resolve, then, that on this very ground, with small flags waving and tiny blasts on tiny trumpets, we shall meet the enemy, and not only may he be ours, he may be us.”

NeedsHumansMayEnoughHandsEnemyHuman NatureRemainsTinyResolveFlagsBlastTrumpetsFlag Waving
Book:Pogo revisited: containing the complete volumes of The Pogo poop book, Instant Pogo [and] The Jack Acid Society black book
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“All the sciences have a relation, greater or less, to human nature; and...however wide any of them may seem to run from it, they still return back by one passage or another. Even Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, and Natural Religion, are in some measure dependent on the science of MAN; since they lie under the cognizance of men, and are judged of by their powers and faculties.”

MenHumansMayStillsPhilosophySeemsRunningScienceLyingReligionNaturalGreaterHuman NatureReturnAccountsRelationMathematicsWideDependentFacultyPassagesJudgedNatural PhilosophyReturn Back
Author:David Hume
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“In all general questions which become the subjects of discussion, there are always some truths mixed with falsehoods. I confess, there is danger where men are capable of holding two offices. Take mankind in general, they are vicious, their passions may be operated upon. We have been taught to reprobate the danger of influence in the British government, without duly reflecting how far it was necessary to support a good government. We have taken up many ideas upon trust, and at last, pleased with our own opinions, establish them as undoubted truths.”

MenMayHas BeensTwoIdeasGovernmentLastsPassionOpinionSupportTakenInfluenceSubjectsMankindHuman NatureDangerTaughtOfficeCapableBritishDiscussionFalsehoodViciousReflectingBritish Government
Author:Alexander Hamilton
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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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“It is possible that these may all be insufficient to control the caprice and wickedness of man. But are they not all that government will admit, and all that human prudence can devise?”

MenHumansMayGovernmentHuman NatureWickednessPrudenceInsufficientCaprice
Book:The Fœderalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favor of the New Constitution, as Agreed Upon by the Fœderal Convention, September 17, 1787. Reprinted from the Original Text. With an Historical Introduction and Notes
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“Common interest may always be reckoned upon as the surest bond of sympathy.”

MayInterestCommonHuman NatureCommon Interests
Book:The Federalist on the New Constitution, Written in the Year 1788, with an Appendix Containing the Letters of Pacificus and Helvidius on the Proclamation of Neutrality of 1793
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“Temporary delusions, prejudices, excitements, and objects have irresistible influence in mere questions of policy. And the policy of one age may ill suit the wishes or the policy of another. The constitution is not subject to such fluctuations. It is to have a fixed, uniform, permanent construction. It should be, so far at least as human infirmity will allow, not dependent upon the passions or parties of particular times, but the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.”

ShouldHumansMayAgePassionWishPartyInfluenceSubjectsHuman NaturePolicyObjectsParticularConstitutionPrejudiceMereIllYesterdaySuitsPermanentFixedExcitementDependentDelusionTemporaryConstructionUniformsIrresistibleInfirmityFluctuation
Book:Commentaries on the Constitution of the Un. States: With a Prelim. Review of the Constitut. History of the Colonies and States, Bef. the Adoption of the Constitution
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“Democracy is a way of life controlled by a working faith in the possibilities of human nature. . . . This faith may be enacted in statutes, but it is only on paper unless it is put in force in the attitudes which human beings display to one another in all the incidents and relations of daily life.”

WayHumansMayForceHuman BeingsAttitudeDemocracyHuman NaturePossibilityPaperRelationDaily LifeControlledDisplayIncidentsStatutes
Book:The Later Works, 1925-1953
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“The aim of life is some way of living, as flexible and gentle as human nature; so that ambition may stoop to kindness, and philosophy to condor and humor. Neither prosperity nor empire nor heaven can be worth winning at the price of a virulent temper, bloody hands, an anguished spirit, and a vain hatred of the rest of the world.”

WorldWayLifeHumansMayPhilosophyHandsLife IsSpiritWinningHeavenKindnessHuman NatureAmbitionHatredAimProsperityVainGentleEmpiresTemperBloodyFlexibleStoopsAim Of LifeBloody Hands
Author:George Santayana
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“It is probably true quite generally that in the history of human thinking the most fruitful developments frequently take place at those points where two different lines of thought meet. These lines may have their roots in quite different parts of human nature, in different times or different cultural environments or different religious traditions: hence if they actually meet, that is, if they are at least so much related to each other that a real interaction can take place, then one may hope that new and interesting developments may follow.”

IfsThinkingHumansMayTwoDifferentRealReligiousLinesInterestingEnvironmentHuman NatureDevelopmentTraditionRootsRelatedInteractionDifferent TimesReligious Traditions
Author:Werner Heisenberg
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“If idioms are more to be born than to be selected, then the things of life and human nature that a man has grown up with--(not that one man's experience is better than another's, but that it is 'his.')--may give him something better in his substance and manner than an over-long period of superimposed idiomatic education which quite likely doesn't fit his constitution. My father used to say, 'If a poet knows more about a horse than he does about heaven, he might better stick to the horse, and some day the horse may carry him into heaven'”

IfsKnowsMenGivingHumansMayLongDoeMightUsedFatherHeavenBornHuman NaturePoetPeriodsFitConstitutionHorseSticksSubstanceOne ManSomething BetterSelectedIdiom
Author:Charles Ives
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“Laughter, while it lasts, slackens and unbraces the mind, weakens the faculties and causes a kind of remissness and dissolution in all the powers of the soul; and thus it may be looked on as weakness in the composition of human nature. But if we consider the frequent relieves we receive from it and how often it breaks the gloom which is apt to depress the mind and damp our spirits, with transient, unexpected gleams of joy, one would take care not to grow too wise for so great a pleasure of life.”

IfsLifeMindHumansKindMaySoulCareLastsJoySpiritGrowsCausesPleasureBreakWiseHuman NatureLaughterWeaknessTake CareUnexpectedFacultyDepressingCompositionGloomTransientGleamDissolutionDampPleasures Of Life
Author:Malcolm De Chazal
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“And as this is the obvious appearance of things, it must be admitted, till some hypothesis be discovered, which by penetrating deeper into human nature, may prove the former affections to be nothing but modifications of the latter. All attempts of this kind have hitherto proved fruitless, and seem to have proceeded entirely from that love of simplicity which has been the source of much false reasoning in philosophy.”

HumansKindMayHas BeensPhilosophySeemsHuman NatureSourceWords Of WisdomProveSimplicityAffectionObviousAppearanceDeeperFormerReasoningLatterHypothesisModification
Book:Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects
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“H. G. Wells was not the only one to mention Churchill and Hitler in the same breath: "Churchill and Hitler are striving to change the nature of their respective countrymen by forcing and hammering violent methods on them. Man may be suppressed in this manner but he cannot be changed. Ahimsa [non-violence in the Hindu tradition], on the other hand, can change human nature and sooner than men like Churchill and Hitler."”

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Author:Mahatma Gandhi
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“Self-deception is a defining part of our human nature. By recognizing its various forms in ourselves and reflecting upon them, we may be able to disarm them and even, in some cases, to employ and enjoy them. This self-knowledge opens up a whole new world before us, rich in beauty and subtlety, and frees us not only to take the best out of it, but also to give it back the best of ourselves, and, in so doing, to fulfil our potential as human beings. I don't really think it's a choice.”

ThinkingWorldGivingHumansMaySelfWholeAbleFormChoicesEnjoyHuman BeingsCasesRichHuman NatureVariousDeceptionNew WorldSelf KnowledgeRecognizingDefiningReflectingSelf DeceptionSubtletyReflecting Upon
Author:Neel Burton
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“Human beings, in a sense, may be thought of as multidimensional creatures composed of such poetic considerations as the individual need for self-realization, subdued passions for overwhelming beauty, and a hunger for meaning beyond the flavors that enter and exit the physical body. A person might even be described as a self-contained multiverse.”

NeedsHumansMayPersonsSelfBodyMightHumanityPassionIndividualHuman BeingsBeautyPsychologyHuman NatureCreaturesHungerIndividualitySelf RealizationRealizationConsiderationPoeticOverwhelmingFlavorExitPhysical BodyMultiverseSelf Contained
Author:Aberjhani
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“No war ought ever to be undertaken but under circumstances which render all intercourse of courtesy between the combatants impossible. It is a bad thing that men should hate each other; but it is far worse that they should contract the habit of cutting one another's throats without hatred. War is never lenient but where it is wanton; when men are compelled to fight in self-defence, they must hate and avenge: this may be bad; but it is human nature.”

MenShouldHumansMayWarSelfHateFightingPeaceCuttingImpossibleHuman NatureOughtHabitCircumstancesHatredBad ThingsContractsThroatCompelledCourtesyDefenceIntercourseNo WarWantonSelf DefenceLenient
Author:Thomas B. Macaulay
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“My readers, who may at first be apt to consider Quotation as downright pedantry, will be surprised when I assure them, that next to the simple imitation of sounds and gestures, Quotation is the most natural and most frequent habitude of human nature. For, Quotation must not be confined to passages adduced out of authors. He who cites the opinion, or remark, or saying of another, whether it has been written or spoken, is certainly one who quotes; and this we shall find to be universally practiced.”

FirstsHumansMayHas BeensNextSoundNaturalSimpleOpinionWrittenHuman NatureReaderPassagesGesturesImitationQuotationsRemarksConfinedCitingPedantry
Author:James Boswell
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“It is true that water will flow indifferently to east and west, but will it flow equally well up and down? Human nature is disposed toward goodness, just as water tends to flow downwards. There is no water but flows downwards, and no man but shows his tendency to be good. Now, by striking water hard, you may splash it higher than your forehead, and by damming it, you may make it go uphill. But, is that the nature of water? It is external force that causes it to do so. Likewise, if a man is made to do what is not good, his nature is being similarly forced.”

IfsMenHumansWellsMayMadeHardShowsForceCausesWaterHuman NatureHigherGoodnessFlowWestEastBe GoodTendenciesUp And DownForeheadsEast And WestExternal Forces
Author:Mencius
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“After all, I quite naturally want to live in order to fulfill my whole capacity for living, and not in order to fulfill my reasoning capacity alone, which is no more than some one-twentieth of my capacity for living. What does reason know? It knows only what it has managed to learn (and it may never learn anything else; that isn't very reassuring, but why not admit it?), while human nature acts as a complete entity, with all that is in it, consciously or unconsciously; and though it may be wrong, it's nevertheless alive.”

KnowsWantLifeHumansMayDoeReasonWholeOrderAliveHuman NatureCapacityLive LifeReasoningWhy NotEntityNeverthelessReassuring
Author:Fyodor Dostoevsky
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