17th century

Explore 573 quotes from the 17th century

In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain... And the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

Thomas Hobbes

Leviathan

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Topic

State of nature Anarchy Government

Author

Thomas Hobbes

Source

Leviathan

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1651 1650s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil. London: Andrew Crooke, 1651, pt. 1, ch. 13.

Current Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, edited by Christopher Brooke. Penguin Classics, 2017, pt. 1, ch. 13.

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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Topic

Being true to oneself Authenticity Personal integrity

Speaker

Lord Polonius

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Hamlet

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 1, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 3, sc. 4.

I think, therefore I am.

René Descartes

Discourse on Method

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Topic

Nature of man

Author

René Descartes

Source

Discourse on Method

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1637 1630s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Descartes, René [published anonymously]. Discours de la Méthode: Pour bien conduire sa raison, et chercher la vérité dans les sciences [Discourse on Method: To Conduct Reason Well, and Seek Truth in the Sciences]. Leiden, 1637, pt. 4.

Current Citation

Descartes, René. Discourse on the Method, translated by Ian Maclean. Oxford University Press, 2008, pt. 4.

It is always darkest just before the day dawneth.

Thomas Fuller (churchman)

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Topic

Things get better Hard times

Author

Thomas Fuller (churchman)

Source

A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine and the Confines Thereof

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1650 1650s 17th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Fuller, Thomas. A Pisgah-sight of Palestine and the confines thereof with the history of the Old and New Testament acted thereon. London: John Williams, 1650.

Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd,
Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd.

William Congreve

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Topic

Broken heart Men and women Women

Speaker

Queen Zara

Author

William Congreve

Source

The Mourning Bride

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragic play

Language

English

Time

1697 1690s 17th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Congreve, William. The Mourning Bride. 1697, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, England, UK, act 3, sc. 2.

To be or not to be—that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And, by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep—
No more—and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to—’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep—
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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Topic

Suicide The afterlife

Speaker

Hamlet

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Hamlet

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 3, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 3, sc. 1.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

William Shakespeare

Shakespeare's Sonnets

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Topic

Summer The ephemeral Seasons

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Sonnet 18 Shakespeare's Sonnets

Medium

Sonnet Poem

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile Question

Language

English

Time

1609 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Shake-speares Sonnets. London: Thomas Thorpe, 1609, sonnet 18, I. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Sonnets." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, sonnet 18.

Nature abhors a vacuum.

Baruch Spinoza

Ethics

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Topic

Nature

Author

Baruch Spinoza

Source

Ethics

Medium

Treatise

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Axioms and precepts

Language

Latin

Time

1677 1670s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Spinoza, Baruch. Ethica, Ordine Geometrico Desmonstrata [Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order]. 1677, pt. 1, prop. 15, note.

Current Citation

Spinoza, Benedict. Ethics, translated by Michael Silverthorne and Matthew J. Kinser. Cambridge University Press, 2018, pt. 1, prop. 15, note.

O fairest of Creation, last and best
Of all God's works.

John Milton

Paradise Lost

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Topic

Eve Nature of women Women

Author

John Milton

Source

Paradise Lost

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem Religious literature

Language

English

Time

1667 1660s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. London: Samuel Simmons, 1667, bk. 8, I. 896.

Current Citation

"Paradise Lost." John Milton: Major Works, edited by Stephen Orgel and Jonathan Goldberg. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 9, I. 896.

Long is the way
And hard, that out of Hell leads up to Light.

John Milton

Paradise Lost

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Topic

Redemption Salvation Hell

Author

John Milton

Source

Paradise Lost

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem Religious literature

Language

English

Time

1667 1660s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. London: Samuel Simmons, 1667, bk. 2, I. 432.

Current Citation

"Paradise Lost." John Milton: Major Works, edited by Stephen Orgel and Jonathan Goldberg. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 2, I. 432.

Curiosity...is a Lust of the mind.

Thomas Hobbes

Leviathan

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Topic

Curiosity

Author

Thomas Hobbes

Source

Leviathan

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Definition

Language

English

Time

1651 1650s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil. London: Andrew Crooke, 1651, pt. 1, ch. 6.

Current Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, edited by Christopher Brooke. Penguin Classics, 2017, pt. 1, ch. 6.

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Isaac Newton

More information about this quote

Topic

Scientific progress Progress

Author

Isaac Newton

Source

Letters of Isaac Newton

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1676 1670s 17th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Newton, Isaac. Letter to Robert Hooke. 5 Feb. 1676.

Current Citation

Newton, Isaac. Letter to Hooke, 5 February 1675/6." The Correspondence of Isaac Newton. Vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Moreover, in a system of two bodies mutually acting upon each other, since the differences between their centres and the common centre of gravity of both are reciprocally as the bodies, the relative motions of those bodies, whether of approaching to or of receding from that centre, will be equal junong themselves. Therefore since the changes which happen to motions are equal and directed to contrary parts.

Isaac Newton

Principia

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Topic

Cause and effect Laws of physics Physics Science

Author

Isaac Newton

Source

Principia

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

Latin

Time

1687 1680s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Newton, Isaac. "Axiomata sive Leges Motus: [Axioms, or Laws of Motion]." Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica [The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy], vol. 1. London: Josephi Streater, 1687, law 3.

Current Citation

Newton, Isaac. "Axioms, or the Laws of Motion." The Principia, translated by Andrew Motte. Prometheus, 1995, law 3.

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable; in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god: the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals-And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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Topic

Man Human nature The human condition

Speaker

Hamlet

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Hamlet

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 2, sc. 2.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 2, sc. 2.

Where-ever Law ends, Tyranny begins.

John Locke

Two Treatises of Government

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Topic

Rule of law Law Tyranny Political theory Politics

Author

John Locke

Source

Second Treatise of Civil Government Two Treatises of Government

Medium

Treatise

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1690 1690s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Locke, John. "Second Treatise of Civil Government." Two Treatises of Government. London: Awnsham Churchill, 1690, ch. 18, sect. 202.

Current Citation

Locke, John. Second Treatise of Civil Government, edited by C. B. Macpherson. Hackett Publishing Company, 1980, ch. 18, sect. 202.

The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.

Blaise Pascal

Pensées

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Topic

Reason and emotion Reason Emotions The heart

Author

Blaise Pascal

Source

Pensées

Medium

Epigram

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1662 1660s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pascal, Blaise. Pensées [Thoughts]. Paris: Chez G. Desprez, 1670, no. 277.

Current Citation

Pascal, Blaise. "Pensées." Pensées and Other Writings, edited by Anthony Levi, translated by Honor Levi. Oxford University Press, 2008, no. 277.

Every body perseveres in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a right line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed thereon.

Isaac Newton

Principia

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Topic

Newton's laws of motion Laws of physics

Author

Isaac Newton

Source

Principia

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

Latin

Time

1687 1680s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Newton, Isaac. "Axiomata sive Leges Motus: [Axioms, or Laws of Motion]." Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica [The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy], vol. 1. London: Josephi Streater, 1687, law 1.

Current Citation

Newton, Isaac. "Axioms, or the Laws of Motion." The Principia, translated by Andrew Motte. Prometheus, 1995, law 1.

We never do evil so fully and cheerfully as when we do it out of conscience.

Blaise Pascal

Pensées

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Topic

Hurting others Evil

Author

Blaise Pascal

Source

Pensées

Medium

Epigram

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1662 1660s 17th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pascal, Blaise. Pensées [Thoughts]. Paris: Chez G. Desprez, 1670, no. 895.

Current Citation

Pascal, Blaise. "Pensées." Pensées and Other Writings, edited by Anthony Levi, translated by Honor Levi. Oxford University Press, 2008, no. 895.

Her rash hand in evil hour
Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she ate:
Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat
Sighing through all her works gave signs of woe
That all was lost.

John Milton

Paradise Lost

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Topic

Eve Original sin Fallen world

Author

John Milton

Source

Paradise Lost

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem Religious literature

Language

English

Time

1667 1660s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. London: Samuel Simmons, 1667, bk. 8, I. 780.

Current Citation

"Paradise Lost." John Milton: Major Works, edited by Stephen Orgel and Jonathan Goldberg. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 9, I. 780.

Come what come may,
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.

William Shakespeare

Macbeth

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Topic

Things get better

Speaker

Macbeth

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Macbeth

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Macbeth." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 1, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Macbeth." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 3.