John Locke Quotes

One unerring mark of the love of truth is not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant.

It is of great use to the sailor to know the length of his line, though he cannot with it fathom all the depths of the ocean.

Things of this world are in so constant a flux, that nothing remains long in the same state.

There are two sides, two players. One is light, the other is dark.

The necessity of pursuing true happiness is the foundation of all liberty- Happiness, in its full extent, is the utmost pleasure we are capable of.

Success in fighting means not coming at your opponent the way he wants to fight you.

Reason must be our last judge and guide in everything.

Logic is the anatomy of thought.

He that uses his words loosely and unsteadily will either not be minded or not understood.

Firmness or stiffness of the mind is not from adherence to truth, but submission to prejudice.

It is practice alone that brings the powers of the mind, as well as those of the body, to their perfection.

The least and most imperceptible impressions received in our infancy have consequences very important and of long duration.

It is easier for a tutor to command than to teach.

The Bible is one of the greatest blessings bestowed by God on the children of men. It has God for its author; salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture for its matter. It is all pure.

The dread of evil is a much more forcible principle of human actions than the prospect of good.

Fashion for the most part is nothing but the ostentation of riches.

The reason why men enter into society is the preservation of their property.

To read of human depravity in the police reports is one thing, to see it fall like a black shadow across one's life is another.

What humanity abhors, custom reconciles and recommends to us.

It is labour indeed that puts the difference on everything.

The visible mark of extraordinary wisdom and power appear so plainly in all the works of creation.

We should have a great fewer disputes in the world if words were taken for what they are, the signs of our ideas only, and not for things themselves.

He that judges without informing himself to the utmost that he is capable, cannot acquit himself of judging amiss

I believe half of the unhappiness in life comes from people being afraid to go straight at things.

When ideas float in our mind, without any reflection or regard of the understanding, it is that which the French call reverie.

An excellent man, like precious metal, is in every way invariable; A villain, like the beams of a balance, is always varying, upwards and downwards.

Curiosity in children is but an appetite for knowledge.

If by gaining knowledge we destroy our health, we labour for a thing that will be useless in our hands.

Our deeds disguise us. People need endless time to try on their deeds, until each knows the proper deeds for him to do. But every day, every hour, rushes by. There is no time.

To prejudge other men's notions before we have looked into them is not to show their darkness but to put out our own eyes.

Men's happiness or misery is [for the] most part of their own making.

Men in great fortunes are strangers to themselves, and while they are in the puzzle of business, they have no time to tend their health either of body or mind.

Affectation is an awkward and forced imitation of what should be genuine and easy, wanting the beauty that accompanies what is natural.

Understanding like the eye; whilst it makes us see and perceive all things, takes no notice of itself; and it requires art and pains to set it at a distance and make it its own subject.

All men are liable to error; and most men are, in many points, by passion or interest, under temptation to it.

What is a logical mind?... It is the antiseptic which destroys the bacilli of unreason whereby true happiness is vivified.

In my opinion, understanding who your target audience is, and what they want, and writing to them (and only them!) is the most important component of being successful as an author.

The great art to learn much is to undertake a little at a time.

The greatest part of mankind ... are given up to labor, and enslaved to the necessity of their mean condition; whose lives are worn out only in the provisions for living.

A sound mind in a sound body is a short but full description of a happy state in this world.

Where all is but dream, reasoning and arguments are of no use, truth and knowledge nothing.

Women are women and can't help themselves.

God, when he makes the prophet, does not unmake the man.

There is no such way to gain admittance, or give defence to strange and absurd Doctrines, as to guard them round about with Legions of obscure, doubtful, and undefin'd Words.

I esteem it above all things necessary to distinguish exactly the business of civil government from that of religion and to settle the just bounds that lie between the one and the other.

Anger is uneasiness or discomposure of the mind upon the receipt of any injury, with a present purpose of revenge

The greatest part cannot know, and therefore they must believe.

Women are cats ... and love to scratch even those they're fond of. Sometimes the more they love them the harder they scratch.

Where there is no property there is no injustice.

To be rational is so glorious a thing, that two-legged creatures generally content themselves with the title.