#human nature

To prefer evil to good is not in human nature; and when a man is compelled to choose one of two evils, no one will choose the greater when he might have the less. ↗

— Plato

#compelled #evil #evils #good #greater

I am not 'in pursuit of truth.' It is not my 'quarry.' I am of my human nature a thinker, and conscious of need, responsibility of thinking-speaking with truth. I do not go about hunting 'truths.' ↗

— Laura Riding

#am #conscious #go #human #human nature

The point of departure of the process to which we wish to contribute is the fact that war is the natural reaction of human nature in the savage state, while peace is the result of acquired characteristics. ↗

— Elihu Root

#characteristics #contribute #departure #fact #human

There is so much of good in human nature that men grow to like each other upon better acquaintance, and this points to another way in which we may strive to promote the peace of the world. ↗

— Elihu Root

#another #another way #better #each #good

One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea. ↗

— Walter Bagehot

#human #human nature #idea #nature #new

Law is born from despair of human nature. ↗

— Jose Ortega y Gasset

#despair #human #human nature #law #nature

It is a law of human nature that in victory even the coward may boast of his prowess, while defeat injures the reputation even of the brave. ↗

— Sallust

#brave #coward #defeat #even #his

Only the brave know how to forgive; it is the most refined and generous pitch of virtue human nature can arrive at. ↗

— Laurence Stern

#brave #forgive #generous #how #human

Human nature is so constituted, that all see and judge better in the affairs of other men than in their own. ↗

— Terence

#better #constituted #human #human nature #judge

The trifle now inscribed with your name. was occasioned by a particular fact; but to the disgrace of human nature, the subject is sufficiently general to interest every heart not totally impenetrable. ↗

— Thomas Day

#every #every heart #fact #general #heart