The First Cause Of Absurd Conclusions I

The Original Of All Great And Lasting Societies Consisted Not In The Mutual Good Will Men Had Toward Each Other, But In The Mutual Fear They Had Of Each Other.

As In The Presence Of The Master, The Servants Are Equall, And Without Any Honour At All; So Are The Subjects, In The Presence Of The Soveraign. And Though They Shine Some More, Some Lesse, When They Are Out Of His Sight; Yet In His Presence, They Shine No More Than The Starres In Presence Of The Sun.

For It Is Not The Shape, But Their Use, That Makes Them Angels.

Felicity Is A Continual Progress Of The Desire From One Object To Another, The Attaining Of The Former Being Still But The Way To The Latter.

In Sum, All Actions And Habits Are To Be Esteemed Good Or Evil By Their Causes And Usefulness In Reference To The Commonwealth, And Not By Their Mediocrity, Nor By Their Being Commended. For Several Men Praise Several Customs, And, Contrarily, What One Calls Vice, Another Calls Virtue, As Their Present Affections Lead Them.