Corporations are may lesser commonwealths in the bowels of a greater, like worms in the entrails of a natural man.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that corporations, while significant, are ultimately subservient to the larger interests of society, much like worms in a personβs body.
Thomas Hobbes uses this metaphor to illustrate the relationship between corporations and society. He implies that corporations may have their own power and influence, yet they are still part of a larger social structure and exist for the benefit of the greater public. The imagery of worms in the entrails emphasizes a certain parasitic nature that could suggest exploitation or dependency, indicating that while corporations may thrive, they do so within the bounds established by the natural person or society as a whole.
In practice
In a speech about corporate responsibility, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of prioritizing societal welfare.
Baptism is the sacrament of allegiance of them that are to be received into the Kingdom of God, that is to say, into Eternal life, that is to say, to Remission of Sin. For as Eternal life was lost by the committing, so it is recovered by the remitting of men's sins.
Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.
For it is not the shape, but their use, that makes them angels.
For to accuse requires less eloquence, such is man's nature, than to excuse; and condemnation, than absolution, more resembles justice.
Scientia potentia est, sed parva; quia scientia egregia rara est, nec proinde apparens nisi paucissimis, et in paucis rebus. Scientiae enim ea natura est, ut esse intelligi non possit, nisi ab illis qui sunt scientia praediti.
The end of knowledge is power ... the scope of all speculation is the performing of some action or thing to be done.
A brain scan may reveal the neural signs of anxiety, but a Kokoschka painting, or a Schiele self-portrait, reveals what an anxiety state really feels like. Both perspectives are necessary if we are to fully grasp the nature of the mind, yet they are rarely brought together.
That we devote ourselves to God, is seen In living just as though no God there were.
I am burdened with what the Buddhists call the 'monkey mind' -- the thoughts that swing from limb to limb, stopping only to scratch themselves, spit and howl.
There can be no fifty-fifty Americanism in this country. There is room here for only 100% Americanism, only for those who are Americans and nothing else
THIS law of nature, being co-eval with mankind and dictated by God himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times: no human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this; and such of them as are valid derive all their force, and all their authority, mediately or immediately, from this original.
When men talk about war, the stories and terminology vary - it's this battle, these weapons, this terrain. But no matter where you go in the world, women use the same language to speak of war. They speak of fire, they speak of death, and they speak of starvation.
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