--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't believe that there is a human…" description: "\"I don't believe that there is a human creature in his senses, arrived to maturity, that at some time or other has not been carried away by this passion..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/bernard-de-mandeville-25947_believe_i-don-t-believe-that-there-is-a-human-cr_454005.png" --- # I don't believe that there is a human creature in his… ![“I don't believe that there is a human creature in his senses, arrived to maturity, that at some time or other has not been carried away by this passion (sc. envy) in good earnest; yet I never met with any one who dared own he was guilty of it but in jest.” quote by Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/bernard-de-mandeville-25947_believe_i-don-t-believe-that-there-is-a-human-cr_454005.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/bernard-de-mandeville-25947_believe_i-don-t-believe-that-there-is-a-human-cr_454005.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/bernard-de-mandeville-25947_believe_i-don-t-believe-that-there-is-a-human-cr_454005.png) > “I don't believe that there is a human creature in his senses, arrived to maturity, that at some time or other has not been carried away by this passion (sc. envy) in good earnest; yet I never met with any one who dared own he was guilty of it but in jest.” [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often feel envy but rarely admit it openly, especially when it’s serious; they may only acknowledge it jokingly. **In simple terms:** Envy is common but rarely confessed seriously. Key Takeaway Recognize and own your feelings honestly. Themes human nature emotions honesty Mood reflective introspective Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - personal relationships - workplace dynamics - family interactions Key Concepts psychology social behavior Questions to Reflect On - Do you hide envy behind jokes? - How does admitting envy change relationships? A Different Perspective Envy can be masked by humor, making it harder to address. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy/) [Guilty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilty/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Jealousy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jealousy/) [Maturity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maturity/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) ## Related quotes > [Many wise words are spoken in jest, but they don't compare with the number of stupid words spoken in earnest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-levenson/many-wise-words-are-spoken-in-jest-but-they-don-t-compare-with-the/) [Sam Levenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-levenson/) > [As my mother once said: The boys throw stones at the frog in jest. But the frogs die in earnest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-russ/as-my-mother-once-said-the-boys-throw-stones-at-the-frog-in-jest-but/) [Joanna Russ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-russ/) > [Speak not injurious words neither in jest nor earnest; scoff at none, although they give occasion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/speak-not-injurious-words-neither-in-jest-nor-earnest-scoff-at-none/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [The universe was not made in jest but in solemn incomprehensible earnest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-universe-was-not-made-in-jest-but-in-solemn-incomprehensible/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Death is not earnest in the same way the eternal is. To the earnestness of death belongs precisely that remarkable capacity for awakening, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/death-is-not-earnest-in-the-same-way-the-eternal-is-to-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [The boys throw rocks at the frogs in jest. But the frogs die in earnest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bion-of-borysthenes/the-boys-throw-rocks-at-the-frogs-in-jest-but-the-frogs-die-in-earnest/) [Bion of Borysthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bion-of-borysthenes/) > [Every dream is a prophecy: every jest is an earnest in the womb of Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/every-dream-is-a-prophecy-every-jest-is-an-earnest-in-the-womb-of-time/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Speak not injurious words, neither in jest nor earnest. Scoff at none though they give occasion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/speak-not-injurious-words-neither-in-jest-nor-earnest-scoff-at-none-2/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [Divinity is not playful. The universe was not made in jest but in solemn incomprehensibl e earnest. By a power that is unfathomably secret,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/divinity-is-not-playful-the-universe-was-not-made-in-jest-but-in/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [No human creature can give orders to love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sand/no-human-creature-can-give-orders-to-love/) [George Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sand/) > [The human creature, humiliated and offended in ways that are inconceivable to the mind and heart, defies the blind and deaf divinity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-human-creature-humiliated-and-offended-in-ways-that-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some things which are remote in space and time from a living creature, especially a human creature, may form his environment even more truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/some-things-which-are-remote-in-space-and-time-from-a-living-creature/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“The human creature is so astonishing, but count on it before anything else to be just that-a creature. A laughing animal, a dangerous one,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffery-deaver/the-human-creature-is-so-astonishing-but-count-on-it-before-anything/) [Jeffery Deaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffery-deaver/) > [I define a human being as that creature that has no power or control over his/her own conscience and yet is still comfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/i-define-a-human-being-as-that-creature-that-has-no-power-or-control/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [“Hanging upside down above them was a fat, frog-faced creature. Its head and feet were amphibious, with slimy, bumpy skin and a puffed, bulbous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-buckley/hanging-upside-down-above-them-was-a-fat-frog-faced-creature-its-head/) [Michael Buckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-buckley/) ## More by Bernard de Mandeville > [What a vast Traffick is drove, what a variety of Labour is performed in the World to the Maintenance of Thousands of Families that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/what-a-vast-traffick-is-drove-what-a-variety-of-labour-is-performed/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [We seldom call anybody lazy, but such as we reckon inferior to us, and of whom we expect some service.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/we-seldom-call-anybody-lazy-but-such-as-we-reckon-inferior-to-us-and/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [No habit or quality is more easily acquired than hypocrisy, nor any thing sooner learned than to deny the sentiments of our hearts and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/no-habit-or-quality-is-more-easily-acquired-than-hypocrisy-nor-any/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [Some People are not to be persuaded to taste of any Creatures they have daily seen and been acquainted with, while they were alive;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/some-people-are-not-to-be-persuaded-to-taste-of-any-creatures-they/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [If laying aside all worldly Greatness and Vain-Glory, I should be ask'd where I thought it was most probable that Men might enjoy true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/if-laying-aside-all-worldly-greatness-and-vain-glory-i-should-be-ask/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [One good Man may take another's Word, if they so agree, but a whole Nation ought never to trust to any Honesty, but what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/one-good-man-may-take-another-s-word-if-they-so-agree-but-a-whole/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [People of substance may sin without being exposed for their stolen pleasure; but servants and the poorer sort of women have seldom an opportunity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/people-of-substance-may-sin-without-being-exposed-for-their-stolen/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [Because impudence is a vice, it does not follow that modesty is a virtue; it is built upon shame, a passion in our nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/because-impudence-is-a-vice-it-does-not-follow-that-modesty-is-a/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [Those who get their living by their daily labor . . . have nothing to stir them up to be serviceable but their wants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/those-who-get-their-living-by-their-daily-labor-have-nothing-to-stir/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [They that examine into the Nature of Man, abstract from Art and Education, may observe, that what renders him a Sociable Animal, consists not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/they-that-examine-into-the-nature-of-man-abstract-from-art-and/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [The only thing of weight that can be said against modern honor is that it is directly opposite to religion. The one bids you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/the-only-thing-of-weight-that-can-be-said-against-modern-honor-is/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [There are many examples of women that have excelled in learning, and even in war, but this is no reason we should bring em…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/there-are-many-examples-of-women-that-have-excelled-in-learning-and/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [Knowledge both enlarges and multiplies our Desires, and the fewer things a Man wishes for, the more easily his Necessities may be supply'd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/knowledge-both-enlarges-and-multiplies-our-desires-and-the-fewer/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [Ye children of promise who are awaiting your call to glory, take possession of the inheritance that now is yours. By faith take the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/ye-children-of-promise-who-are-awaiting-your-call-to-glory-take/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [The first Rudiments of Morality, broach'd by skilful Politicians, to render Men useful to each other as well as tractable, were chiefly contrived that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/the-first-rudiments-of-morality-broach-d-by-skilful-politicians-to/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) [Explore all 22 Bernard de Mandeville quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) ## More Believe quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. 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He's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/resist-discouragement-by-speaking-his-word-over-your-future-keep/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [There is no such word as item girl in the dictionary. People have created this word and I don't believe that I am an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shefali-zariwala/there-is-no-such-word-as-item-girl-in-the-dictionary-people-have/) [Shefali Zariwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shefali-zariwala/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I don't really like too much credit. I know nobody's going to believe this, but I'd rather be able to score goals and nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bradley-wright-phillips/i-don-t-really-like-too-much-credit-i-know-nobody-s-going-to-believe/) [Bradley Wright-Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bradley-wright-phillips/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Bush reiterated his stand to conservatives opposing his decision on stem cell research. He said today he believes life begins at conception and ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/bush-reiterated-his-stand-to-conservatives-opposing-his-decision-on/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [To believe in love, to be ready to give up anything for it, to be willing to risk your life for it, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/to-believe-in-love-to-be-ready-to-give-up-anything-for-it-to-be/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [That's why I don't generally talk about endorsements because I don't believe we have to tell people who to vote for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-iii/that-s-why-i-don-t-generally-talk-about-endorsements-because-i-don-t/) [Martin Luther King III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-iii/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) Browse all 47,704 Believe quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't believe that there is a human creature in his senses, arrived to maturity, that at some time or other has not been carried away by this passion (sc. envy) in good earnest; yet I never met with any one who dared own he was guilty of it but in jest.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bernard de Mandeville" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/i-don-t-believe-that-there-is-a-human-creature-in-his-senses-arrived/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Believe" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/i-don-t-believe-that-there-is-a-human-creature-in-his-senses-arrived/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/bernard-de-mandeville-25947_believe_i-don-t-believe-that-there-is-a-human-cr_454005.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/bernard-de-mandeville-25947_believe_i-don-t-believe-that-there-is-a-human-cr_454005.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/bernard-de-mandeville-25947_believe_i-don-t-believe-that-there-is-a-human-cr_454005.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't believe that there is a human creature in his senses, arrived to maturity, that at some time or…” — Bernard de Mandeville", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bernard de Mandeville", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I don't believe that there is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/i-don-t-believe-that-there-is-a-human-creature-in-his-senses-arrived/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/i-don-t-believe-that-there-is-a-human-creature-in-his-senses-arrived/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```