Theme

Philosophy quotes about human nature

Human Nature appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat human nature as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.

Why this theme matters

Across 4 recurring voices here (notably Aristotle and Blaise Pascal), human nature is framed through Peripatetic School and Christian Existential Precursor. Some passages define human nature; others warn how it fails; still others relocate it inside habit, community, or language.

In the history of philosophy

Discussions of human nature travel through Greek and European modern traditions. Compare the quotations below with their school labels rather than forcing a single definition.

Thinkers in this collection

Aristotle , Blaise Pascal , Thomas Hobbes , Mencius , Xunzi , Adam Smith , Marcus Aurelius , Philippa Foot

Frequently asked questions

What did philosophers say about human nature?

They disagreed in productive ways. In this archive, Aristotle, Blaise Pascal, and related voices treat human nature as something to clarify, cultivate, or critique—not merely to celebrate.

Where can I find philosophy quotes about human nature?

This theme page gathers 6 verified English quotations tagged Human Nature, with links to thinkers and sources.

How should I read quotes about human nature?

Read the sentence, then check school and source. A compact line is an entry point into an argument about human nature, not a substitute for the surrounding text.

  1. Man is by nature a political animal.
  2. Man is only a reed, the weakest in nature; but he is a thinking reed.
  3. [In the state of nature, the life of man is] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
  4. The heart of compassion is possessed by all; so too the hearts of shame, of respect, and of right and wrong.
  5. Human nature is bad; whatever is good about it is the product of deliberate activity (wei).
  6. That whereby humans differ from birds and beasts is slight; ordinary people discard it, the noble person preserves it.
  7. How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature which interest him in the fortune of others.
  8. We are made for cooperation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids.
  9. There is no criterion for determining what is good for a human being that is independent of the nature of the human being.
  10. Be a philosopher; but amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.