--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Humans are driven by a perpetual and…" description: "\"Humans are driven by a perpetual and restless desire of power.\" — Thomas Hobbes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/thomas-hobbes-1127_desire_humans-are-driven-by-a-perpetual-and-res_1204703.jpg" --- # Humans are driven by a perpetual and restless desire of… ![“Humans are driven by a perpetual and restless desire of power.” quote by Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/thomas-hobbes-1127_desire_humans-are-driven-by-a-perpetual-and-res_1204703.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/thomas-hobbes-1127_desire_humans-are-driven-by-a-perpetual-and-res_1204703.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/thomas-hobbes-1127_desire_humans-are-driven-by-a-perpetual-and-res_1204703.jpg) > “Humans are driven by a perpetual and restless desire of power.” [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human nature is driven by an endless, restless pursuit of power. **In simple terms:** People constantly seek power. Key Takeaway Channel ambition into constructive goals. Themes power restlessness human nature Mood serious philosophical Type political theoretical When to use this quote - leadership - social dynamics - conflict resolution Key Concepts political theory psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does power drive your actions? - What limits should be placed on ambition? A Different Perspective Unchecked power pursuit can cause societal instability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-power-1136851/) [Driven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driven/) [Driven Perpetual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driven-perpetual-3627048/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Humans Driven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans-driven-3627047/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Perpetual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perpetual/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Restless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/restless/) [Restless Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/restless-desire-1635080/) ## Related quotes > [I put for the general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/i-put-for-the-general-inclination-of-all-mankind-a-perpetual-and/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [So that in the first place, I put for a general inclination of all mankind a perpetual and restless desire of Power after power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/so-that-in-the-first-place-i-put-for-a-general-inclination-of-all/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [For all his pain, he longed to see the author of it. Although he hated Margaret at times, when he thought of that gentle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gaskell/for-all-his-pain-he-longed-to-see-the-author-of-it-although-he-hated/) [Elizabeth Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gaskell/) > [Wherever I am, whatever I do, my only purpose in life is to see you a restless desire like the need to see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-fulger/wherever-i-am-whatever-i-do-my-only-purpose-in-life-is-to-see-you-a/) [Mariana Fulger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-fulger/) > [The modern age has been characterized by a Promethean spirit, a restless energy that preys on speed records and shortcuts, unmindful of the past,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-rifkin/the-modern-age-has-been-characterized-by-a-promethean-spirit-a/) [Jeremy Rifkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-rifkin/) > [In government offices which are sensitive to the vehemence and passion of mass sentiment public men have no sure tenure. They are in effect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/in-government-offices-which-are-sensitive-to-the-vehemence-and/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [When we have a vision of what we can become, our desire and our power to act increase enormously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallin-h-oaks/when-we-have-a-vision-of-what-we-can-become-our-desire-and-our-power/) [Dallin H. Oaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallin-h-oaks/) > [Nowadays the world is becoming increasingly materialistic, and mankind is reaching toward the very zenith of external progress, driven by an insatiable desire for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/nowadays-the-world-is-becoming-increasingly-materialistic-and-mankind-2/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [The desire for power feeds off itself, growing as it devours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-desire-for-power-feeds-off-itself-growing-as-it-devours/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [He who does not desire power is fit to hold it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/he-who-does-not-desire-power-is-fit-to-hold-it/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [There are men who desire power simply for the sake of the happiness it will bring; these belong chiefly to political parties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/there-are-men-who-desire-power-simply-for-the-sake-of-the-happiness/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Wisdom warns against desire, but there is power in wanting, power that can fuel the will and keep lit that precious torch, hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-utley/wisdom-warns-against-desire-but-there-is-power-in-wanting-power-that/) [Eugene Utley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-utley/) > [When you feel the desire for power, you should stay in solitude for some time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/when-you-feel-the-desire-for-power-you-should-stay-in-solitude-for/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Ambition is the immoderate desire for power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/ambition-is-the-immoderate-desire-for-power/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [The desire to have power dissolves. The desire to dominate people for love dissolves. On the other hand, it's a relief to realize you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/the-desire-to-have-power-dissolves-the-desire-to-dominate-people-for/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) ## More by Thomas Hobbes > [“Give an inch, he'll take an ell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/give-an-inch-he-ll-take-an-ell/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [Do not that to another, which thou wouldst not have done to thyself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/do-not-that-to-another-which-thou-wouldst-not-have-done-to-thyself/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [For it is with the mysteries of our religion, as with wholesome pills for the sick, which swallowed whole, have the virtue to cure;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/for-it-is-with-the-mysteries-of-our-religion-as-with-wholesome-pills/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [Intemperance is naturally punished with diseases; rashness, with mischance; injustice; with violence of enemies; pride, with ruin; cowardice, with oppression; and rebellion, with slaughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/intemperance-is-naturally-punished-with-diseases-rashness-with/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [A man's conscience and his judgment is the same thing; and as the judgment, so also the conscience, may be erroneous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/a-man-s-conscience-and-his-judgment-is-the-same-thing-and-as-the/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [He that is to govern a whole Nation , must read in himself, not this, or that particular man; but Mankind; which though it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/he-that-is-to-govern-a-whole-nation-must-read-in-himself-not-this-or/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [If men are naturally in a state of war, why do they always carry arms and why do they have keys to lock their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/if-men-are-naturally-in-a-state-of-war-why-do-they-always-carry-arms/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [Let a man (as most men do) rate themselves as the highest Value they can; yet their true Value is no more than it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/let-a-man-as-most-men-do-rate-themselves-as-the-highest-value-they/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [A free man is he that, in those things which by his strength and wit he is able to do, is not hindered to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/a-free-man-is-he-that-in-those-things-which-by-his-strength-and-wit/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [“Covenants, without the sword, are but words and of no strength to secure a man at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/covenants-without-the-sword-are-but-words-and-of-no-strength-to/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [Fear of things invisible in the natural seed of that which everyone in himself calleth religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/fear-of-things-invisible-in-the-natural-seed-of-that-which-everyone/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [Because silver and gold have their value from the matter itself, they have first this privilege, that the value of them cannot be altered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/because-silver-and-gold-have-their-value-from-the-matter-itself-they/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [What reason is there that he which laboreth much, and, sparing the fruits of his labor, consumeth little, should be more charged than he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/what-reason-is-there-that-he-which-laboreth-much-and-sparing-the/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [The cause of Sense, is the External Body, or Object, which presseth the organ proper to each Sense, either immediately, as in theTaste and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/the-cause-of-sense-is-the-external-body-or-object-which-presseth-the/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [The characters of man's heart, blotted and confounded as they are with dissembling, lying, counterfeiting, and erroneous doctrines, are legible only to him that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/the-characters-of-man-s-heart-blotted-and-confounded-as-they-are-with/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) [Explore all 285 Thomas Hobbes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Humans are driven by a perpetual and restless desire of power.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Hobbes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/humans-are-driven-by-a-perpetual-and-restless-desire-of-power/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/humans-are-driven-by-a-perpetual-and-restless-desire-of-power/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/thomas-hobbes-1127_desire_humans-are-driven-by-a-perpetual-and-res_1204703.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/thomas-hobbes-1127_desire_humans-are-driven-by-a-perpetual-and-res_1204703.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/thomas-hobbes-1127_desire_humans-are-driven-by-a-perpetual-and-res_1204703.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Humans are driven by a perpetual and restless desire of power.” — Thomas Hobbes", "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": "Thomas Hobbes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Humans are driven by a perpetual...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/humans-are-driven-by-a-perpetual-and-restless-desire-of-power/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/humans-are-driven-by-a-perpetual-and-restless-desire-of-power/#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 } } ] } ```