Quotessence
Home / Topics / Human Nature Quotes

Human Nature Quotes

Browse 4693 quotes about Human Nature.

Related topics

MenPeopleIfsThinkingWorldMayWantWayKnowsHas BeensBelieveCharacterHuman BeingsMankindNeedsSelfInspirationalMeanWellsReasonDoeLawShouldTryingPersonsSeemsTwoDifferentGivingHumanityLongRealityLittlesPrinciplesUnderstandingFactsFeelsEvilKindWarMadeAnimalMindFirstsInterestLifeHeartLooksIdeasNaturalPassionDesirePoliticalSoulCommunitySidesVirtueArtCommonGovernmentMightRealSocialHappinessSpiritStudyActionAgeConditionsFeelingsFormIndividualSometimesWisdomWritingEndsExistenceFoundLanguagePleasureSpiritualViewsBornChangeDivineForceGivenIndividualityJusticeLiteratureQualityShowsWholeGreaterHateMatterMomentsPhilosophyPoliticsSciencemore

Human Nature Quotes

“For as long as men and women have talked about war, they have talked about it in terms of right and wrong. And for almost as long, some among them have derided such talk, called it a charade, insisted that war lies beyond (or beneath) moral judgment. War is a world apart, where life itself is at stake, where human nature is reduced to its elemental forms, where self-interest and necessity prevail. Here men and women do what they must to save themselves and their communities, and morality and law have no place. Inter arma silent leges: in time of war the law is silent.”

MenWorldHumansLongWarSelfFormLawLyingTermInterestCommunityMoralHuman NatureMoralityJudgmentMen And WomenSilentStakesSelf InterestElementalsMoral JudgmentCharadesWorlds Apart
Book:Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations
Create image

“It is easy enough to say, Be true to your values. But what if your values are irrational? Or what if the virtues you have committed yourself to are so much against human nature that they cannot be practiced consistently? Be careful of what you accept as your code of morality. Think carefully about whether its tenets serve your life and well being. Exercise critical judgment. Realize how much is at stake-your life, your happiness, your self-esteem.”

IfsThinkingHumansWellsSelfEnoughValuesEasyRealizingAcceptingVirtueHuman NatureSelf EsteemMoralityExerciseJudgmentCommittedCarefulCriticalEsteemBeing TrueWell BeingCodeWhat IfStakesBe CarefulConsistentlyIrrational
Author:Nathaniel Branden
Create image

“I have long been settled in my own opinion that neither Philosophy, nor Religion, nor Morality, nor Wisdom, nor Interest, will ever govern nations or Parties, against their vanity, their Pride, their Resentment, or Revenge, or their Avarice, or Ambition. Nothing but Force and Power and Strength can restrain them.”

LongPhilosophyForceNationsInterestMy OwnPartyOpinionHuman NaturePrideMoralityAmbitionRevengeVanityResentmentAvaricePower And StrengthForce And Power
Book:John Adams: Writings from the New Nation, 1784-1826
Create image

“The form of government which you admire, when its principles are pure is admirable indeed. It is productive of every Thing which is great and excellent among men. But its principles are as easily destroyed as human nature is corrupted. Such a government is only to be supported by pure religion or Austere morals.”

MenHumansGovernmentFormReligionMoralPrinciplesHuman NatureMoralityPureAdmireDestroyedExcellentProductiveAdmirableForms Of Government
Book:Warren-Adams Letters: Being Chiefly a Correspondence Among John Adams, Samuel Adams, and James Warren ... 1743-1814
Create image

“My version of relativism is pluralistic and attributes functions to morality that in combination with human nature place limits on what could count as a true morality. Unlike many other relativists, I do not hold that people are subject to a morality because they all belong to a certain group. That is, I don't hold that being a member of a group makes one's subject to some set of generally accepted norms. What is true is that others around us teach us morality and moral language, so they inevitably influence us.”

PeopleLanguageMoralTeachInfluenceHuman NatureMoralityAcceptedNormRelativism
Author:David Wong
Create image

“Conservatism vests in and depends on the widespread, informed understanding of human nature, self-governance and the First Principle of Progress: free people interacting in free markets produce the greatest good for the greatest number always, but only, when tethered to virtue and morality.”

PeopleFirstsHumansSelfUnderstandingNumbersPrinciplesVirtueProgressHuman NatureProduceDependsMoralityFree MarketGovernanceConservatismInteractingVests
Author:Mary Matalin
Create image

“Simplicity is a pleasant thing in children, or at any age, but it is not necessarily admirable, nor is affectation altogether a thing of evil. To be normal, to be at home in the world, with a prospect of power, usefulness, or success, the person must have that imaginative insight into other minds that underlies tact and savoir-faire, morality and beneficence. This insight involves sophistication, some understanding and sharing of the clandestine impulses of human nature. A simplicity that is merely the lack of this insight indicates a sort of defect.”

WorldMindHumansChildrenPersonsHomeAgeEvilUnderstandingNatureHuman NatureMoralityNormalSimplicityInsightImpulsePleasantDefectsImaginativeAdmirableUsefulnessSophisticationTactBeneficenceClandestinePleasant ThingsSavoir Faire
Book:Two Major Works: Social Organization. Human Nature and the Social Order
Create image

“Radical feminism is the most destructive and fanatical movement to come down to us from the Sixties. This is a revolutionary, not a reformist, movement, and it is meeting with considerable success. Totalitarian in spirit, it is deeply antagonistic to traditional Western culture and proposes the complete restructuring of society, morality, and human nature.”

HumansSpiritCultureFeminismHuman NatureMovementMoralityMeetingsWesternFeministTraditionalRadicalRevolutionaryDestructiveSixtyProposeRadical FeminismWestern CultureRestructuring
Author:Robert Bork
Create image

“I am convinced that human nature is basically affectionate and good. If our behavior follows our kind and loving nature, immense benefits will result, not only for ourselves, but also for the society to which we belong. I generally refer to this sort of love and affection as a universal religion. Everyone needs it, believers as much as non-believers. This attitude constitutes the very basis of morality.”

IfsNeedsHumansKindResultsAttitudeHuman NatureWords Of WisdomMoralityBehaviorBenefitsUniversalBasesAffectionConvincedGoodBelieverBelongingImmenseWise Man Once SaidTibetanAffectionateNon BelieverLove And AffectionLoving Nature
Author:Dalai Lama
Create image

“Father Brendan Flynn: "A woman was gossiping with her friend about a man whom they hardly knew - I know none of you have ever done this. That night, she had a dream: a great hand appeared over her and pointed down on her. She was immediately seized with an overwhelming sense of guilt. The next day she went to confession. She got the old parish priest, Father O' Rourke, and she told him the whole thing. 'Is gossiping a sin?' she asked the old man. 'Was that God All Mighty's hand pointing down at me? Should I ask for your absolution? Father, have I done something wrong?' 'Yes,' Father O' Rourke answered her. 'Yes, you ignorant, badly-brought-up female. You have blamed false witness on your neighbor. You played fast and loose with his reputation, and you should be heartily ashamed.' So, the woman said she was sorry, and asked for forgiveness. 'Not so fast,' says O' Rourke. 'I want you to go home, take a pillow upon your roof, cut it open with a knife, and return here to me.' So, the woman went home: took a pillow off her bed, a knife from the drawer, went up the fire escape to her roof, and stabbed the pillow. Then she went back to the old parish priest as instructed. 'Did you gut the pillow with a knife?' he says. 'Yes, Father.' 'And what were the results?' 'Feathers,' she said. 'Feathers?' he repeated. 'Feathers; everywhere, Father.' 'Now I want you to go back and gather up every last feather that flew out onto the wind,' 'Well,' she said, 'it can't be done. I don't know where they went. The wind took them all over.' 'And that,' said Father O' Rourke, 'is gossip!”

PeopleLifeInspirationalWisdomTruthReligionDifferencesDoubtPsychologyHuman NatureMoralityGayRespectToleranceMoviePrivacyLgbtGossipWrongIntoleranceRightHomosexualPersecutionSlanderViceProverbial WisdomSermonVirtues And VicesTolerance RespectSocial DiseaseHuman DifferencesFather FlynnPhilip Seymour Hoffmann
Book:Doubt, a Parable
Create image

“It reminds me of sitting window seat on a plane. I look out and onto the ground and I see everyone’s little houses. They’ve got their own perfect square of land, with a roof of their own, with a tree of their own, their own fence. There’s something so artificial to it when you zoom out. Our own tree in the front yard may be large, but they aren’t rooted in a true forest. Their house could be painted gold, but the street isn’t. Everything we have is just enough for our eyes to see. I feel like we’re meant for more. More than decorations. Sometimes, even though I know it’s not possible, I feel like everyone deserves their own forest.”

PhilosophyNatureHuman NatureMoralityReflectionPropertyIndividualityIndividualismFairnessThe Goodbye Song
Book:The Goodbye Song
Create image

“देवी, पुष्पेंद्र इस बात का सबसे बड़ा प्रमाण है कि बुद्धिमत्ता जब प्रेम, करुणा और परोपकार की नींव से कट जाती है, तो वह केवल विनाशकारी हो जाती है। ज्ञान यदि हृदय की संवेदनाओं से न जुड़ा हो, तो वह केवल एक धारदार शस्त्र है जो चलाने वाले को भी नहीं छोड़ता। भावनाविहीन मनुष्य उस हिंसक पशु के समान है जिसके पास विवेक तो है, पर विवेक का उपयोग केवल संहार के लिए है।”

PhilosophyWisdomCompassionDarknessHuman NatureMoralityEthicsIntelligenceEmotional IntelligencePsychological Drama
Book:त्रिकूट: धर्म का चक्रव्यूह
Create image