QuoteProject
The right of nature... is the liberty each man hath to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own nature; that is to say, of his own life.
Thomas Hobbes
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes the fundamental freedom individuals have to act in ways that preserve their own lives.

In this quote, Hobbes asserts that every person possesses a natural right to utilize their abilities and resources as they see fit, primarily aimed at ensuring their own survival and well-being. It highlights the intrinsic connection between personal liberty and the instinct for self-preservation, suggesting that the freedom to act is a vital aspect of human nature.

Themes

NatureLibertyLifeSelf-PreservationFreedom

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech on individual rights and personal freedom at a political rally.

More from Thomas Hobbes

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.
Thomas HobbesRead
Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.
Thomas HobbesRead
For it is not the shape, but their use, that makes them angels.
Thomas HobbesRead
For to accuse requires less eloquence, such is man's nature, than to excuse; and condemnation, than absolution, more resembles justice.
Thomas HobbesRead
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.
Thomas HobbesRead
The end of knowledge is power ... the scope of all speculation is the performing of some action or thing to be done.
Thomas HobbesRead

Similar quotes

To me, the zombies have always just been zombies. They've always been a cigar. When I first made 'Night of the Living Dead,' it got analyzed and overanalyzed way out of proportion. The zombies were written about as if they represented Nixon's Silent Majority or whatever. But I never thought about it that way.
George A. RomeroRead
Just because you believe in something does not mean that it is true.
Albert EinsteinRead
A man must ride alternately on the horses of his private and his public nature.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
There is no past we can bring back by longing for it. There is only an eternal now that builds and creates out of the past something new and better.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
The state controlling a woman would mean denying her full autonomy and full equality.
Ruth Bader GinsburgRead
Against the background of general freakishness the case of my particular freakishness was lost.
Witold GombrowiczRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Thomas Hobbes | QuoteProject