John Locke (1632-1704)

John Locke was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism". His important works include A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689), Two Treatises of Government (1689/90), both published anonymously, and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689/90). His writing on toleration contends that religion is a matter for the individual and that the churches are voluntary associations, ruling out religious coercion and uniformity; these lead to the idea of separation of church and state. His Two Treatises on Government argues for government based on the consent of the governed and the right to revolt against tyrannous government, which has lost consent. The Two Treatises had a direct influence on the language that Thomas Jefferson chose in his drafting the July 1776 Declaration of Independence during the American Revolution.

Quotes

All wealth is the product of labor.
New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without anyother reason but because they are not already common.
Our incomes are like our shoes; if too small, they gall and pinch us; but if too large, they cause us to stumble and to trip.
Parents wonder why the streams are bitter, when they themselves have poisoned the fountain.
The discipline of desire is the background of character.
Good and evil, reward and punishment, are the only motives to a rational creature: these are the spur and reins whereby all mankind are set on work, and guided.
That which is static and repetitive is boring. That which is dynamic and random is confusing. In between lies art.
No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience.
The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts.
Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.
The dread of evil is a much more forcible principle of human actions than the prospect of good.
The action of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts.
Till a man can judge whether they be truths or not, his understanding is but little improved, and thus men of much reading, though greatly learned, but may be little knowing.
We are a kind of Chameleons, taking our hue - the hue of our moral character, from those who are about us.
There cannot be greater rudeness than to interrupt another in the current of his discourse.
Curiosity in children, is but an appetite for knowledge. One great reason why children abandon themselves wholly to silly pursuits and trifle away their time insipidly is, because they find their curiosity balked, and their inquiries neglected.
Earthly minds, like mud walls, resist the strongest batteries; and though, perhaps, somethimes the force of a clear argument may make some impression, yet they nevertheless stand firm, keep out the enemy, truth, that would captivate or disturbe them.
New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.

Ideas
A sound mind in a sound body is a short but full description of a happy state in this world.

Body, Happiness
I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.

Actions, Thinking, Thoughts