Such truth, as opposeth no man's profit, nor pleasure, is to all men welcome.

Life is nasty, brutish, and short

To be seduced by Orators, as a Monarch by Flatterers.

The science which teacheth arts and handicrafts is merely science for the gaining of a living; but the science which teacheth deliverance from worldly existence, is not that the true science?

When all the world is overcharged with inhabitants, then the last remedy of all is war, which provideth for every man, by victory or death.

The praise of ancient authors proceeds not from the reverence of the dead, but from the competition and mutual envy of the living.

So that in the nature of man, we find three principal causes of quarrel. First, competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory. The first maketh men invade for gain; the second, for safety; and the third, for reputation. The first use violence, to make themselves masters of other men's persons, wives, children, and cattle; the second, to defend them; the third, for trifles, as a word, a smile, a different opinion, and any other sign of undervalue, either direct in their persons or by reflection in their kindred, their friends, their nation, their profession, or their name.