If Men Are Naturally In A State

To Speak Impartially, Both Sayings Are Very True: That Man To Man Is A Kind Of God; And That Man To Man Is An Arrant Wolf. The First Is True, If We Compare Citizens Amongst Themselves; And The Second, If We Compare Cities.

A Covenant Not To Defend Myself From Force By Force Is Always Void. For ... No Man Can Transfer Or Lay Down His Right To Save Himself. For The Right Men Have By Nature To Protect Themselves, When None Else Can Protect Them, Can By No Covenant Be Relinquished. ... [the Right] To Defend Ourselves [is The] Summe Of The Right Of Nature.

Where There Is No Common Power, There Is No Law

For To Accuse Requires Less Eloquence, Such Is Man's Nature, Than To Excuse; And Condemnation, Than Absolution, More Resembles Justice.

The Interpretation Of The Laws Of Nature In A Common-wealth, Dependeth Not On The Books Of Moral Philosophy. The Authority Of Writers, Without The Authority Of The Commonwealth, Maketh Not Their Opinions Law, Be They Never So True.