“The savage in man is never quite eradicated.”
September 26, 1859
Journals (1838-1859)
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Henry David Thoreau385
1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitio… 1817–1862Related quotes
Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834) British political economist
Source: An Essay on The Principle of Population (First Edition 1798, unrevised), Chapter XVIII, paragraph 11, lines 16-17
“Man is an imperfect animal and never quite trustworthy in the dark.”
H. G. Wells book The Open Conspiracy
The Open Conspiracy (1928)
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
Source: Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“Doubt is the offspring of knowledge: the savage never doubts at all.”
William Winwood Reade (1838–1875) British historian
Source: The Martyrdom of Man (1872), Chapter II, "Religion", p. 189.
Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) President of South Africa, anti-apartheid activist
Speech for the "Make Poverty History" campaign http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4232603.stm. Trafalgar Square, London (3 February 2005). <br class="br">2000s <br class="br">Context: Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.
“To be awake is to be alive. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake.”
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist
“The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the old man who will not laugh is a fool.”
George Santayana (1863–1952) 20th-century Spanish-American philosopher associated with Pragmatism
Source: Dialogues in Limbo (1926), Ch. 3, P. 57
“A man can never quite understand a boy, even when he has been the boy.”
G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English mystery novelist and Christian apologist
Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G.K. Chesterton, Joseph Pearce
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