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Human nature quotes

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“But men are men; the best sometimes forget:” William Shakespeare, “Othello” - 1623

“I promise nothing complete; because any human thing supposed to be complete, must for that very reason infallibly be faulty.” Herman Melville, “Moby-Dick” - 1851

“After the primary necessities of food and raiment, freedom is the first and strongest want of human nature.” John Stuart Mill, “The Subjection of Women” - 1869

“We make allowance for a certain degree of selfishness in men; because we know it to be inseparable from human nature, and inherent in our frame and constitution.” David Hume, “A Treatise of Human Nature” - 1738

“That however the brains and abilities of men may differ, their stomachs are essentially the same.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, “This Side of Paradise” - 1920

“Sometimes I lose faith in human nature for a time; I am assailed by doubt.” William Faulkner, “As I Lay Dying” - 1930

“We are only human, and the gods have fashioned us for love. That is our great glory, and our great tragedy.” George R. R. Martin, “A Game of Thrones” - 1996

“We control life, Winston, at all its levels. You are imagining that there is something called human nature which will be outraged by what we do and will turn against us. But we create human nature. Men are infinitely malleable.” George Orwell, “1984” - 1949

“The general observations treasured up by a course of experience, give us the clue of human nature, and teach us to unravel all its intricacies. Pretexts and appearances no longer deceive us.” David Hume, “An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding” - 1748

“After all that has been said of the levity and inconstancy of human nature, it appears evidently from experience, that man is, of all sorts of luggage, the most difficult to be transported.” Adam Smith, “The Wealth of Nations” - 1776

“But love is a strange master, and human nature is still stranger, so she asked her question.” Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes” - 1912

“The highest flights of charity, devotion, trust, patience, bravery to which the wings of human nature have spread themselves have been flown for religious ideals.” William James, “The Varieties of Religious Experience” - 1902

“It is only a novel . . . or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and...” Jane Austen, “Northanger Abbey” - 1817

“It is to the credit of human nature, that, except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates.” Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Scarlet Letter” - 1850

“Perhaps it is only human nature to inflict suffering on anything that will endure suffering, whether by reason of its genuine humility, or indifference, or sheer helplessness.” Honoré de Balzac, “Father Goriot” - 1835

Related topics

love men imperfection life doubt mind appearance tragedy suffering reading indifference man freedom experience hate intelligence religion charity selfishness wit

Related authors

David Hume (2)
William Shakespeare (1)
Jane Austen (1)
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1)
William Faulkner (1)
George R. R. Martin (1)
George Orwell (1)
Herman Melville (1)
Adam Smith (1)
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1)
John Stuart Mill (1)
Honoré de Balzac (1)
Edgar Rice Burroughs (1)
William James (1)

Related sources

Othello (1)
Northanger Abbey (1)
This Side of Paradise (1)
As I Lay Dying (1)
A Game of Thrones (1)
1984 (1)
Moby-Dick (1)
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1)
The Wealth of Nations (1)
The Scarlet Letter (1)
The Subjection of Women (1)
Father Goriot (1)
Tarzan of the Apes (1)
The Varieties of Religious Experience (1)
A Treatise of Human Nature (1)