--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The thief and the murderer follow nature…" description: "\"The thief and the murderer follow nature just as much as the philanthropist.\" — Thomas Huxley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/thomas-huxley-1183_mankind_the-thief-and-the-murderer-follow-nature_1423673.png" --- # The thief and the murderer follow nature just as much as… ![“The thief and the murderer follow nature just as much as the philanthropist.” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/thomas-huxley-1183_mankind_the-thief-and-the-murderer-follow-nature_1423673.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/thomas-huxley-1183_mankind_the-thief-and-the-murderer-follow-nature_1423673.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/thomas-huxley-1183_mankind_the-thief-and-the-murderer-follow-nature_1423673.png) > “The thief and the murderer follow nature just as much as the philanthropist.” [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. All humans, regardless of morality, act according to natural drives. **In simple terms:** Nature drives all behavior. Key Takeaway Recognize shared instincts. Themes human nature ethics biology Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - politics - business - personal ambition Key Concepts evolutionary psychology determinism Questions to Reflect On - Do moral choices stem from nature or culture? - Can altruism be purely natural? A Different Perspective Assumes uniform motivation across cultures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Just Philanthropist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-philanthropist-5048901/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Murderer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/murderer/) [Murderer Follow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/murderer-follow-5048902/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Philanthropist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philanthropist/) [Thief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thief/) [Thief Murderer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thief-murderer-1735628/) [Thieves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thieves/) ## Related quotes > [“It could have been a thief or a murderer. I considered crying out. A thief would run away, but a murderer would murder me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yahtzee-croshaw/it-could-have-been-a-thief-or-a-murderer-i-considered-crying-out-a/) [Yahtzee Croshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yahtzee-croshaw/) > [“The London criminal is certainly a dull fellow. Look out of this window, Watson. See how the figures loom up, are dimly seen, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/the-london-criminal-is-certainly-a-dull-fellow-look-out-of-this/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“What crime have I committed? Am I a thief or a murderer, to have to degrade myself like this? In this country of mine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bandi/what-crime-have-i-committed-am-i-a-thief-or-a-murderer-to-have-to/) [Bandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bandi/) > [If you can turn a murderer into a mere thief, you are making progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/if-you-can-turn-a-murderer-into-a-mere-thief-you-are-making-progress/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [“He finally found someone like him. Someone who shared his abilities, someone who understood what he had to go through every day. And she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaxon-reed/he-finally-found-someone-like-him-someone-who-shared-his-abilities/) [Jaxon Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaxon-reed/) > [As a philanthropist, I give away a lot of money every year. Yet I thought there was a higher leverage to come in and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-skoll/as-a-philanthropist-i-give-away-a-lot-of-money-every-year-yet-i/) [Jeffrey Skoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-skoll/) > [To get your name well enough known that you can run for a public office, some people do it by being great lawyers or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-glenn/to-get-your-name-well-enough-known-that-you-can-run-for-a-public/) [John Glenn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-glenn/) > [There is the expression of selfishness and there is the expression of selflessness - but economists or theoreticians never touched that part. They said:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/there-is-the-expression-of-selfishness-and-there-is-the-expression-of/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [“There's no sell in serve.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julieanne-o-connor/there-s-no-sell-in-serve/) [Julieanne O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julieanne-o-connor/) > [Wealth is not to feed our egos but to feed the hungry and to help people help themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-carnegie/wealth-is-not-to-feed-our-egos-but-to-feed-the-hungry-and-to-help/) [Andrew Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-carnegie/) > [The philanthropists inquire whether Transcendentalism does not mean sloth: they had as lief hear that their friend is dead, as that he is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-philanthropists-inquire-whether-transcendentalism-does-not-mean/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I did do an American pilot, but it wasnt shot in America, it was shot in South Africa. It was called The Philanthropist, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominique-mcelligott/i-did-do-an-american-pilot-but-it-wasnt-shot-in-america-it-was-shot/) [Dominique McElligott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominique-mcelligott/) > [My goal is to work diligently to become the top philanthropist in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chen-guangbiao/my-goal-is-to-work-diligently-to-become-the-top-philanthropist-in-the/) [Chen Guangbiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chen-guangbiao/) > [My undergraduate studies at Brown and graduate degrees from Harvard prepared me for a multifaceted career as an actor, entrepreneur and philanthropist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hill-harper/my-undergraduate-studies-at-brown-and-graduate-degrees-from-harvard/) [Hill Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hill-harper/) > [I am not Christ or a philanthropist, old lady, I am all the contrary of a Christ I fight for the things I believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/che-guevara/i-am-not-christ-or-a-philanthropist-old-lady-i-am-all-the-contrary-of/) [Che Guevara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/che-guevara/) ## More by Thomas Huxley > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [There is nothing of permanent value (putting aside a few human affections) nothing that satisfies quiet reflection--except the sense of having worked according to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/there-is-nothing-of-permanent-value-putting-aside-a-few-human/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Economy does not lie in sparing money, but in spending it wisely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/economy-does-not-lie-in-sparing-money-but-in-spending-it-wisely/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [It is not to be forgotten that what we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/it-is-not-to-be-forgotten-that-what-we-call-rational-grounds-for-our/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Only a scientific people can survive in a scientific future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/only-a-scientific-people-can-survive-in-a-scientific-future/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Our reverence for the nobility of manhood will not be lessened by the knowledge that man is in substance and in structure, one with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/our-reverence-for-the-nobility-of-manhood-will-not-be-lessened-by-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [In science, as in art, and, as I believe, in every other sphere of human activity, there may be wisdom in a multitude of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/in-science-as-in-art-and-as-i-believe-in-every-other-sphere-of-human/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Science is simply common sense at its best, that is, rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/science-is-simply-common-sense-at-its-best-that-is-rigidly-accurate/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Oh devil! truth is better than much profit. I have searched over the grounds of my belief, and if wife and child and name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/oh-devil-truth-is-better-than-much-profit-i-have-searched-over-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Let us have "sweet girl graduates" by all means. They will be none the less sweet for a little wisdom; and the "golden hair"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/let-us-have-sweet-girl-graduates-by-all-means-they-will-be-none-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [In matters of the intellect, do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable. That I take to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/in-matters-of-the-intellect-do-not-pretend-that-conclusions-are/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [And you very soon find out, if you have not found it out before, that patience and tenacity of purpose are worth more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/and-you-very-soon-find-out-if-you-have-not-found-it-out-before-that/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [No one who has lived in the world as long as you & I have, can entertain the pious delusion that it is engineered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/no-one-who-has-lived-in-the-world-as-long-as-you-i-have-can-entertain/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Mix salt and sand, and it shall puzzle the wisest of men, with his mere natural appliances, to separate all the grains of sand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/mix-salt-and-sand-and-it-shall-puzzle-the-wisest-of-men-with-his-mere/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [What are the moral convictions most fondly held by barbarous and semi-barbarous people? They are the convictions that authority is the soundest basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/what-are-the-moral-convictions-most-fondly-held-by-barbarous-and-semi/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) [Explore all 278 Thomas Huxley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) ## More Mankind quotes > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [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/) > [“If attempting to make the world a civilized one, makes you a bad woman in the eyes of the dumb patriarchal society, then, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/if-attempting-to-make-the-world-a-civilized-one-makes-you-a-bad-woman/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Fate with impartial hand turns out the doom of high and low; her capacious urn is constantly shaking the names of all mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/fate-with-impartial-hand-turns-out-the-doom-of-high-and-low-her/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Because I have confidence in the power of truth, and of the spirit, I have confidence in the future of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/because-i-have-confidence-in-the-power-of-truth-and-of-the-spirit-i/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [The temptations of God were always more dangerous for mankind than those of Satan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-temptations-of-god-were-always-more-dangerous-for-mankind-than/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [A South Korean inventor has finally created the robot that mankind has been waiting for. Scientists who have been worried about the robot apocalypse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-pesca/a-south-korean-inventor-has-finally-created-the-robot-that-mankind/) [Mike Pesca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-pesca/) > [My dreams were always small and puny. All I ever needed was a little house with a little picket fence by the sea. Little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imelda-marcos/my-dreams-were-always-small-and-puny-all-i-ever-needed-was-a-little/) [Imelda Marcos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imelda-marcos/) > [You should avoid hedging, at least that's what I think. You should be ashamed to die until you've made some contribution to mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-johns/you-should-avoid-hedging-at-least-that-s-what-i-think-you-should-be/) [Vernon Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-johns/) > [Anybody can be good in the country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/anybody-can-be-good-in-the-country/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou ow'st the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/is-man-no-more-than-this-consider-him-well-thou-ow-st-the-worm-no/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There was only the broad square with the scattered dim moons of the street lamps and with the monumental stone arch which receded into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-maria-remarque/there-was-only-the-broad-square-with-the-scattered-dim-moons-of-the/) [Erich Maria Remarque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-maria-remarque/) > [There is a way in which the collective knowledge of mankind expresses itself, for the finite individual, through mere daily living . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurens-van-der-post/there-is-a-way-in-which-the-collective-knowledge-of-mankind-expresses/) [Laurens van der Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurens-van-der-post/) [Browse all 4,668 Mankind quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The thief and the murderer follow nature just as much as the philanthropist.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Huxley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/the-thief-and-the-murderer-follow-nature-just-as-much-as-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mankind" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/the-thief-and-the-murderer-follow-nature-just-as-much-as-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/thomas-huxley-1183_mankind_the-thief-and-the-murderer-follow-nature_1423673.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/thomas-huxley-1183_mankind_the-thief-and-the-murderer-follow-nature_1423673.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/thomas-huxley-1183_mankind_the-thief-and-the-murderer-follow-nature_1423673.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The thief and the murderer follow nature just as much as the philanthropist.” — Thomas Huxley", "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 Huxley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The thief and the murderer follow...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/the-thief-and-the-murderer-follow-nature-just-as-much-as-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/the-thief-and-the-murderer-follow-nature-just-as-much-as-the/#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 } } ] } ```