“For we see that man is a civil and political animal, and is naturally inclined to civilization.”
Nicholas of Cusa book De concordantia catholica
De concordantia catholica (The Catholic Concordance) (1434)
Book I, 1253a.2
Politics
“For we see that man is a civil and political animal, and is naturally inclined to civilization.”
Nicholas of Cusa book De concordantia catholica
De concordantia catholica (The Catholic Concordance) (1434)
Jacques Maritain (1882–1973) French philosopher
The Rights of Man (1945). London: Geoffrey Bles, pp. 7–8.
Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, philosopher, yogi, guru and poet
Thoughts and Aphorisms (1913)
Thoughts and Aphorisms (1913), Jnana
U.G. Krishnamurti book Mind is a Myth
Source: Mind is a Myth (1987), Ch. 1: The Certainty That Blasts Everything
Kenneth N. Waltz book Man, the State, and War
Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter III, Some Implications Of The First Image, p. 42
Wilhelm Reich book The Mass Psychology of Fascism
Section 3 : Work Democracy versus Politics. The Natural Social Forces for the Mastery of the Emotional Plague;
Variant translation: The cry for freedom is a sign of suppression. It will never cease as long as man feels himself to be trapped. No matter how different the cries for freedom may be, at bottom they always express one and the same thing: the intolerableness of the organism's rigidity and the mechanical institutions of life, which are sharply at variance with the natural sensations of life. ... Not until man acknowledges that he is fundamentally an animal, will he be able to create a genuine culture.
The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933), Ch. 10 : Work Democracy
Context: The cry for freedom is a sign of suppression. It will not cease to ring as long as man feels himself captive. As diverse as the cries for freedom may be, basically they all express one and the same thing: The intolerability of the rigidity of the organism and of the machine-like institutions which create a sharp conflict with the natural feelings for life. Not until there is a social order in which all cries for freedom subside will man have overcome his biological and social crippling, will he have attained genuine freedom. Not until man is willing to recognize his animal nature — in the good sense of the word — will he create genuine culture.
Rebecca West (1892–1983) British feminist and author
"The Necessity and Grandeur of the International Ideal" (1935)
Context: It would seem … that man has been shocked by the war into forgetting how to be a political animal. This suspicion is confirmed by the spread of Fascism, which is a headlong flight into fantasy from the necessity for political thought. There is nothing more obvious about the post-war situation than that it is novel, springs from causes which have not yet been analysed, and cannot be relieved until this analysis is complete and has been made the basis of a new social formula. Yet persons supporting Fascism behave as if man were already in possession of principles which would enable him to deal with all our problems, and as if it were only a question of appointing a dictator to apply them.
Ralph George Hawtrey (1879–1975) British economist
Source: The Economic Problem (1925), Chapter I, "The Problem Profounded", p. 1
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (1714–1799) Scottish judge, scholar of language evolution and philosopher
Of the Origin and Progress of Language (Edinburgh and London: J. Balfour and T. Cadell, 2nd ed., 1774), Vol. I, Book II, Ch. II, pp. 224-225 https://archive.org/stream/originandprogre01conggoog#page/n251/mode/2up.
Sylvester Graham (1794–1851) United States reformer
Sylvester Graham's Lectures on the Science of Human Life https://books.google.it/books?id=nRwDAAAAQAAJ, condensed by T. Baker, Manchester: John Heywood, 1881, p. 76.