Human Nature Quotes - Page 4

The more experience and insight I obtain into human nature, the more convinced do I become that the greater portion of a man is purely animal.

Whatever their limitations, Freud and Marx developed complex and subtle theories of human nature grounded in their observation of individual and social behavior. The crackpot rationalism of free-market economics merely relies on an abstract model of how people "must" behave.

In work we act under the predominant motive of external, rational necessities; in pleasure, under the predominant motive of other, equally general necessities of human nature. Rest or recreation is the element in which the personality seeks to renew its strength from these stimuli that exhaust the reserve of human resources. It's an element introduced into life by the person himself.

Written words still have the amazing power to bring out the best and worst of human nature

Hate traps us by binding us too tightly to our adversary.

Human nature is, by definition, a talkative one, imprudent, indiscreet, gossipy, incapable of closing its mouth and keeping it closed.

Cheerfulness is full of significance: it suggests good health, a clear conscience, and a soul at peace with all human nature.

The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.

It's human nature to abuse power, no matter who you are.

German Marxian's coined the dictum: If socialism is against human nature, then human nature must be changed.

Time is the nervous system of narration, whether factual or fictive. If it gets confused some of the minutiae of human nature are certain not to work, not to glow, not to strike home.

Listen, if there's one sure-fire rule that I have learned in this business, it's that I don't know anything about human nature.

Sincerity and truth are the basis of every virtue.

Science can give us power over nature, but it cannot give us power over human nature.

Human nature will never part with power. Look for an example of a voluntary relinquishment of power from one end of the globe to another - you will find none.

Human nature is potentially aggressive and destructive and potentially orderly and constructive.

Human nature is not black and white but black and grey.

The urge to revolt is one of the essential dimensions of human nature.

One never gets to know a person's character better than by watching his behavior during decisive moments.... It is always only danger which forces the most deeply hidden strengths and abilities of a human being to come forth.

Human nature is so constituted that the propensity for evil is always intensified by external circumstances, and the morality of the individual depends much more on the conditions of his existence and the environment in which he lives than on his own will.

It is not human nature we should accuse but the despicable conventions that pervert it.

Self-expression is the dominant necessity of human nature.

[Meanness] is more ingrained in man's nature than Prodigality; the mass of mankind are avaricious rather than open-handed.

Caring passionately about something isn't against nature, and it isn't against human nature. It's what we're here to do.

Common interest may always be reckoned upon as the surest bond of sympathy.