The 18 best quotes from John Locke

John Locke’s phrases invite us to reflect and discover great teachings that can be applied to our daily lives. Most of them are part of his works and will not leave us indifferent.

John Locke was an important British thinker who was born in 1632 and died in 1704. Although he specialized in medicine, he stood out for his writings and the studies he carried out in political philosophy.

He was a man with a multidisciplinary vision. Although he is known for what has already been mentioned, it should also be noted that he was a professor, economist, theologian, diplomat and writer. But this is not all. Locke was one of the representatives of British empiricism.

In this article we will focus on the best phrases that John Locke has said or that have been collected from his writings. Phrases full of wisdom that are worth remembering.

Worry as a control mechanism

This is one of the first phrases of John Locke that we have considered important to have in the first place. Not only because of the meaning it contains, but because this teaching is being repeated today in an important way. What we did not know is that there was already someone who was trying to transmit it in a time that was distant for us.

Everything that worries us controls us for the simple reason that Worries are a series of thoughts that spin and spin with no possible way out.. Beliefs that we feed with fears, doubts and expectations that if we don’t stop, little by little they become bigger.

When we don’t let go of what worries us, anxiety arises. However, a Chinese proverb gives us the solution to prevent worries from controlling us:

The important work of parents

The second of John Locke’s phrases that we have collected is addressed to parents, who have an important job on their hands. However, this phrase is a criticism of a fact that occurs almost every day. Parents who lament because their children are rebellious, because they have “gone wrong along the way,” because they have not integrated the values ​​that they believed they had transmitted to them…

Nowadays, for example, many parents often complain about how addicted their children are to their cell phones or computers. However, these complaints denote a lack of responsibility on the part of all those parents who use video games, tablets or any other technological object to keep their little ones calm.

It is true that time runs very quickly, but you have to know how to prioritize what is important. Sometimes our responsibilities can make parenting overwhelm us.. However, we cannot forget that children are going to grow and interact with other people, that is, they are going to build relationships and it is the parents’ responsibility to educate them well.

If they are educated to “take it, play and entertain yourself for a while” or “now I don’t have time”, children can become addicted to a screen, where is that quality time that is everything? How can parents serve as an example to their children if tomorrow they become addicted to their cell phones? They have guided you in this process. They poison the source.

Happiness and the mind

The third of John Locke’s phrases tells us about that happiness that every human being longs for, but that most look for in the least appropriate places. Perhaps, because as he says, we consider that happiness depends on circumstances.

If we are fired from work, we cannot be happy; the moment we fail to find a partner, we cannot be happy; If we don’t have children, we can’t be happy; If we don’t have enough money, we can’t be happy… The big question is: who has affirmed all this?

The beliefs we harbor in our minds condition us so much that we have given enormous importance to everything that happens outside., without prioritizing our interior. With new perspectives, with different ways of seeing things, one can realize that, in reality, there is no reason to be unhappy.

The desire to be like others

Without a doubt, this fourth of John Locke’s phrases contains a great criticism that was said at the time, but it is totally applicable today. All people are different, however, there is a tendency to want to be like others.lose authenticity and thus be approved by others.

This desire for approval, to belong to a group, causes us to lose our own identity. Everything that makes us different makes us ashamed, because we consider the judgments of others and criticism as something true.

Instead of feeling proud when someone points out our difference in thoughts or ways of seeing things, when they judge our customs, we are ashamed of all this. As the previous sentence said, we believe that happiness depends on circumstances, on the outside. That’s why, we transform into chameleons sacrificing our own essence.

The value of effort

Who wants to be rich? If we were in a room, many hands would probably go up. However, wealth can have very different sources. This last of John Locke’s phrases points out, above all, that wealth is the product of work, effort and perseverance.

If we do not persist, at the first error that appears we will chicken out and want to go back, losing everything we have achieved so far. If we don’t make an effort, what we do will not bear fruit. It is necessary to work to achieve what we want. Doing so will make us rich.

We can be rich in money, in health, in knowledge… Rich for doing what we like, because our life exudes well-being… Rich for having friends or a healthy family. We can be rich in many ways, but in each of them there is effort and work, perseverance and a certain attitude..

Other notable phrases

“Fortitude is the protection of the other virtues.” “Laws were made for men and not men for laws.” “Where there is no property there is no justice.” “Human actions are the interpreters of our thoughts.” “Everything that worries us will control us.” “Man is born free, but everywhere he is chained.” “A healthy mind in a healthy body is what completes a happy state in this world.” “The occupation Man’s ultimate goal is to be happy.” “If we all walk along the same path, then the path appears.” “God has endowed men with language so that it can be the great instrument and common bond of society.” “We would have fewer disputes.” in the world if words were taken for what they are, signs of our ideas only.” “The only element that has no property is the freedom of men.” “The teacher must teach the student to love and appreciate knowledge ».

These 18 quotes from John Locke allow us to realize that no matter how many years pass, what the great thinkers try to make us open our eyes to remains the same. Isn’t it time we took another step? At what point will these phrases stop being advice and become a way of living?

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Images courtesy of Michel Cheval