Original Passage
Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time
of war, where every man is enemy to every man, the same consequent to the
time wherein men live without other security than what their own strength
and their own invention shall furnish them withal. In
such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof
is uncertain: and consequently no culture
of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported
by sea; no commodious building; no instruments
of moving and removing such things as require much force; no knowledge
of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no
letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger
of violent death; and the life of man, solitary,
poor, nasty, brutish, and short. |
Translation
Whatever
is true about life during wartime, when everyone is everyone's enemy, is
also true when people live in a lawless society where they they have to
rely on their own physical and mental resources to protect themselves.
In such a life, people will not work, because they
may not be able to enjoy the products of their labor. There
will be no farming, no long distance travel, no imported goods,
no spacious buildings, no tools to move large or
heavy objects, no study of geography, no timekeeping, no artistic activity,
no writing, no social life, and worst of all, constant
fear and danger of violent death. Life
will be solitary, poor, nasty, uncivilized, and short. |
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