Post

The condition of man is a condition of war of every one against every one — in which case every one is governed by his own reason, and there is nothing he can make use of that may not be a help to him in preserving his life against his enemies. It follows that in such a condition every man has a right to every thing, including to one another's body. And therefore, as long as this natural right of every man to every thing endures, there can be no security to any man, however strong or wise, of living out the time which nature ordinarily allows men to live. And consequently the sovereign, once instituted, must be absolute, or he is nothing.