I have no faith in human perfectibility.
—Edgar Allan Poe, 1850
Human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed.
—Abraham Lincoln, 1860
You cannot slander human nature; it is worse than words can paint it.
—Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 1889
2
Men have never been good, they are not good, and they never will be good.
—Karl Barth, 1948
I am never surprised by bad behavior. I expect it.
—Gore Vidal, 2009
***
What makes mankind tragic is not that they are the victims of nature, it is that they are
conscious of it.
—Joseph Conrad, 1898
Humankind differs from the animals only by a little, and most people throw that away.
—Confucius, fifth century BC
I am a human, and nothing human is alien to me.
3
—Terence, *160 BC
He who makes a beast of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man.
—Samuel Johnson, 1809
Man is a clever animal who behaves like an imbecile.
—Albert Schweitzer, 1969
Chimpanzees have given me so much. […] What I have learned from them has shaped my
understanding of human behavior.
—Jane Goodall, 2009
The more you learn about the dignity of the gorilla, the more you want to avoid people.
—Dian Fossey, 1985
I think computer viruses should count as life. […] I think it says something about human
nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created
life in our own image.
—Stephen Hawking, 1994
2
Note that the author was not some anchorite, but rather a very popular Baptist minister, known in
his time as The Prince of Preachers.
3
In my experience, this popular aphorism is quoted mostly by the people who want to justify
something bestial not being alien to them.
140
On Human Condition
—Edgar Allan Poe, 1850
Human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed.
—Abraham Lincoln, 1860
You cannot slander human nature; it is worse than words can paint it.
—Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 1889
2
Men have never been good, they are not good, and they never will be good.
—Karl Barth, 1948
I am never surprised by bad behavior. I expect it.
—Gore Vidal, 2009
***
What makes mankind tragic is not that they are the victims of nature, it is that they are
conscious of it.
—Joseph Conrad, 1898
Humankind differs from the animals only by a little, and most people throw that away.
—Confucius, fifth century BC
I am a human, and nothing human is alien to me.
3
—Terence, *160 BC
He who makes a beast of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man.
—Samuel Johnson, 1809
Man is a clever animal who behaves like an imbecile.
—Albert Schweitzer, 1969
Chimpanzees have given me so much. […] What I have learned from them has shaped my
understanding of human behavior.
—Jane Goodall, 2009
The more you learn about the dignity of the gorilla, the more you want to avoid people.
—Dian Fossey, 1985
I think computer viruses should count as life. […] I think it says something about human
nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created
life in our own image.
—Stephen Hawking, 1994
2
Note that the author was not some anchorite, but rather a very popular Baptist minister, known in
his time as The Prince of Preachers.
3
In my experience, this popular aphorism is quoted mostly by the people who want to justify
something bestial not being alien to them.
140
On Human Condition