Politics and the state
“The condition of mere nature... is a condition of war of every man against every man.”
— Thomas Hobbes, The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 03 (of 11)
“The life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
— Thomas Hobbes, The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 03 (of 11)
“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.”
— John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
“Man is naturally a political animal.”
— Aristotle, Politics: A Treatise on Government
“Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio.”
— Thomas Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population
“Warfare is based on deception.”
Text from the included edition · Chinese
“兵者，詭道也。”
— Sun Tzu, 孫子兵法
“The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms his strength into right and obedience into duty.”
Text from the included edition · French
“Le plus fort n'est jamais assez fort pour être toujours le maitre, s'il ne transforme sa force en droit & l'obéïssance en devoir.”
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Du contrat social (Le contrat social)
“Virtue can only flourish amongst equals.”
— Mary Wollstonecraft, A vindication of the rights of men, in a letter to the Right Honourable Edmund B
“Philosophers have only interpreted the world in different ways. What is crucial, however, is to change it.”
— Karl Marx, Theses on Feuerbach
“The history of all hitherto existing society... is the history of class struggles.”
— Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party
“Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it, and there will be an end to blind obedience.”
— Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
“He is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.”
— Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
“A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction.”
— John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
“A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline.”
— Machiavelli, The Prince
“The first person who, having enclosed a plot of land, took it into his head to say: This is mine, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the true founder of civil society.”
Text from the included edition · French
“Le premier qui, ayant enclos un terrain, s'avisa de dire : Ceci est à moi, et trouva des gens assez simples pour le croire, fut le vrai fondateur de la société civile.”
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité parmi les hommes
“The real price of every thing, what every thing really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.”
— Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
“That which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for the bee.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. One thinks himself the master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they.”
Text from the included edition · French
“L'homme est né libre, & par-tout il est dans les fers. Tel se croit le maître des autres, qui ne laisse pas d'être plus esclave qu'eux.”
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Du contrat social (Le contrat social)
“Covenants, without the Sword, are but Words, and of no strength to secure a man at all.”
— Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan