The end of knowledge is power ... the scope of all speculation is the performing of some action or thing to be done.
Interpretation
Knowledge leads to the ability to take action, and all speculation ultimately serves a practical purpose.
In this quote, Thomas Hobbes suggests that the ultimate goal of acquiring knowledge is to empower individuals to take action. He posits that all speculation or theoretical thought has its purpose in informing and guiding real-world actions, emphasizing the importance of knowledge as a precursor to power and practical execution in life.
In practice
This quote can be used in a graduation speech to inspire students about the importance of applying their knowledge.
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.
They that approve a private opinion, call it opinion; but they that dislike it, heresy; and yet heresy signifies no more than private opinion.
Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.
If you find out what it is you love to do and give your whole life to it, then there is no contradiction, and in that state your being is your doing.
Astrology and all these mystical things are generally signs of a weak mind
Clarity in language depends on clarity in thought.
There is no one, says another, whom fortune does not visit once in his life; but when she does not find him ready to receive her, she walks in at the door, and flies out at the window.
In rare moments of deep play, we can lay aside our sense of self, shed time's continuum, ignore pain, and sit quietly in the absolute present, watching the world's ordinary miracles. No mind or heart hobbles. No analyzing or explaining. No questing for logic. No promises. No goals. No relationships. No worry. One is completely open to whatever drama may unfold.
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