Corporations are may lesser commonwealths in the bowels of a greater, like worms in the entrails of a natural man.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that corporations, while significant, are ultimately subservient to the larger interests of society, much like worms in a person’s body.
Thomas Hobbes uses this metaphor to illustrate the relationship between corporations and society. He implies that corporations may have their own power and influence, yet they are still part of a larger social structure and exist for the benefit of the greater public. The imagery of worms in the entrails emphasizes a certain parasitic nature that could suggest exploitation or dependency, indicating that while corporations may thrive, they do so within the bounds established by the natural person or society as a whole.
In practice
In a speech about corporate responsibility, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of prioritizing societal welfare.
Baptism is the sacrament of allegiance of them that are to be received into the Kingdom of God, that is to say, into Eternal life, that is to say, to Remission of Sin. For as Eternal life was lost by the committing, so it is recovered by the remitting of men's sins.
Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.
For it is not the shape, but their use, that makes them angels.
For to accuse requires less eloquence, such is man's nature, than to excuse; and condemnation, than absolution, more resembles justice.
Scientia potentia est, sed parva; quia scientia egregia rara est, nec proinde apparens nisi paucissimis, et in paucis rebus. Scientiae enim ea natura est, ut esse intelligi non possit, nisi ab illis qui sunt scientia praediti.
The end of knowledge is power ... the scope of all speculation is the performing of some action or thing to be done.
There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.
I am still so naïve; I know pretty much what I like and dislike; but please, don’t ask me who I am. A passionate, fragmentary girl, maybe?
So says the most ancient book of the Earth; thus it is written on its leaves of marble, lime, sand, slate, and clay: ... that our Earth has fashioned itself, from its chaos of substances and powers, through the animating warmth of the creative spirit, to a peculiar and original whole, by a series of preparatory revolutions, till at last the crown of its creation, the exquisite and tender creature man, was enabled to appear.
Things denied, things untold, things hidden and disguised.
How did her life live itself without her.
Every morning you put on your clothes to cover your nakedness and protect your body from inclement weather. Why don't you also clothe your soul with the garment of faith? Remember each morning the truths of your creed, and look at yourself in the mirror of your faith. Otherwise, your soul will soon be naked with the nakedness of oblivion.
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