John Locke

For where is the man that has incontestable evidence of the truth of all that he holds, or of the falsehood of all he condemns; or can say that he has examined to the bottom all his own, or other men's opinions? The necessity of believing without knowledge, nay often upon very slight grounds, in this fleeting state of action and blindness we are in, should make us more busy and careful to inform ourselves than constrain others.

There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected questions of a child than the discourses of men.

Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.

Our deeds disguise us. People need endless time to try on their deeds, until each knows the proper deeds for him to do. But every day, every hour, rushes by. There is no time.

New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.

I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.

One unerring mark of the love of truth is not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant.

To love truth for truth's sake is the principal part of human perfection in this world, and the seed-plot of all other virtues.

Revolt is the right of the people

Fashion for the most part is nothing but the ostentation of riches.

It is easier for a tutor to command than to teach.

We should have a great fewer disputes in the world if words were taken for what they are, the signs of our ideas only, and not for things themselves.

Any one reflecting upon the thought he has of the delight, which any present or absent thing is apt to produce in him, has the idea we call love.

Things of this world are in so constant a flux, that nothing remains long in the same state.

The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it.

Where all is but dream, reasoning and arguments are of no use, truth and knowledge nothing.

The reason why men enter into society is the preservation of their property.

To prejudge other men's notions before we have looked into them is not to show their darkness but to put out our own eyes.

It is of great use to the sailor to know the length of his line, though he cannot with it fathom all the depths of the ocean.

Where there is no property there is no injustice.

All men are liable to error; and most men are, in many points, by passion or interest, under temptation to it.