The pursuit of self-interest is not in itself a vice but a part of human nature.

But the devil is a subtle worm; he does not give up at one defeat, for he knows human nature and the strength of the forces which battle for him.

Of all the doctrines of the Bible none is so offensive to human nature as the doctrine of God’s sovereignty.

Man, the creature who knows he must die, who has dreams larger than his destiny, who is forever working a confidence trick on himself, needs an ally. Mine has been tobacco.

We must beware the revenge of the starved senses, the embittered animal in its prison.

But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflection on human nature?

Consumer behaviour is a powerful realm from which to explore our biological heritage.

Casting judgments is an integral feature of what makes us human.

E. O. Wilson, the Harvard entomologist and evolutionary biologist, is reputed to have said of socialism: “Great idea. Wrong species.” Any system that is built on a false understanding of human nature is doomed to fail.

The “us versus them” mindset coupled with our social nature implies that we have an innate need to belong to clearly defined in-groups.

Any system that is built on a false understanding of human nature is doomed to fail. Building a society where the primary objective is to protect one’s fragile self-esteem from the dangers of competition will only lead to a society of weakness, entitlement, and apathy. Life is necessarily competitive; society is necessarily hierarchical. It does no one any favors to pursue a utopian vision of society where no one’s feelings are hurt.

Rational thinking is an important aspect of human nature, but we have imagination, we have ambition, we have irrational fear, we are swayed by other people, we get indoctrinated and we get influenced by advertising.

Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no need of change.

We demand that big business give the people a square deal; in return we must insist that when any one engaged in big business honestly endeavors to do right he shall himself be given a square deal.

The reason fat men are good natured is they can neither fight nor run.

A man’s conscience and his judgment are the same thing, and, as the judgment, so also the conscience may be erroneous

If men are naturally in a state of war, why do they always carry arms and why do they have keys to lock their doors?

When all the world is overcharged with inhabitants, then the last remedy of all is war, which provideth for every man, by victory or death.

Man’s nature is not separated from his existence. Existence is not a static thing, but a continuous movement towards self-formation.

For to accuse requires less eloquence, such is man’s nature, than to excuse; and condemnation, than absolution, more resembles justice

The first and fundamental law of Nature, which is, to seek peace and follow it

Homo homini lupus

The condition of man . . . is a condition of war of everyone against everyone

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn

Study hard so that you can master technology, which allows us to master nature.

As selfishness and complaint pervert and cloud the mind, so sex with its joy clears and sharpens the vision.

We must laugh in the face of our helplessness against the forces of nature, or go insane.

What greater gift than the love of a cat.

There is nothing that can be changed more completely than human nature when the job is taken in hand early enough.

The whole problem with the world is the fools and fanatics are always so sure of themselves, and wiser people are full of doubts.

The secrets of evolution are death and time-the deaths of enormous numbers of lifeforms that were imperfectly adapted to the environment; and time for a long succession of small mutations.

The fate of the Jewish people is the fate of Macbeth who stepped out of nature itself, clung to alien beings, and so in their service had to trample and slay everything holy in human nature.

We need not concern ourselves much about rights of property if we faithfully observe the rights of persons

An autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful. A man who gives a good account of himself is probably lying, since any life when viewed from the inside is simply a series of defeats.

Man serves the interests of no creature except himself.

Art is the way to the absolute and to the essence of human life

We have probably had too good an opinion of human nature in forming our confederation.

We must take human nature as we find it, perfection falls not to the share of mortals.

There is a Destiny which has the control of our actions, not to be resisted by the strongest efforts of Human Nature.

For I love to indulge the contemplation of human nature in a progressive state of improvement and melioration: and if the idea would not be considered as visionary and chimerical, I could fondly hope that the present plan of the great Potentate of the North [Catherine the Great], might, in some measure, lay the foundation for that assimilation of language, which, producing assimilation of manners and interests, should one day remove many of the causes of hostility from amongst mankind.

The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him.

Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax.

I wanna live. I don’t wanna die. That’s the whole meaning of life: Not dying! I figured that shit out by myself in the third grade.

So we know that human nature, and that includes our nature, yours and mine, can very easily turn people into quite efficient torturers and mass-murderers and slave-drivers…To the extent that the statement is true, and there is such an extent, it’s just not relevant: human nature also has the capacity to lead to selflessness, and cooperation, and sacrifice, and support, and solidarity, and tremendous courage, and lots of other things too.

Every realm of nature is marvelous

The great book, always open and which we should make an effort to read, is that of Nature.

Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source of serious evils.

We are not mad. We are human. We want to love, and someone must forgive us for the paths we take to love, for the paths are many and dark, and we are ardent and cruel in our journey.