"Nature hath made men so equal, in the faculties of body, and mind; as that though there bee found one man sometimes manifestly stronger in body, or of quicker mind then another; yet when all is reckoned together, the difference between man, and man, is not so considerable, as that one man can thereupon claim to himself any benefit, to which another may not pretend, as well as he. For as to the strength of body, the weakest has strength enough to kill the strongest, either by secret machination, or by confederacy with others, that are in the same danger with himself."" (Leviathan) .
Hobbes' notion is that human nature is made up of mechanic appetites (towards something) and aversions (fromward something), mediated by power struggles. Given our equal status, and his prior reasoning that human appetite is mechanical, Hobbes deduces that when two people in the state of nature go after the same limited resource the natural result is war, "If any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies; and in the way to their End, (which is principally to their own conservation and sometimes their delectation only), endeavor to destroy, or subdue one another."" Hobbes notes that there are three natural causes of conflict among people in the state of nature: distrust of one another, competition for limited resources, and glory (to preserve one's reputation):.
"So that in the nature of man, we find three principle causes of quarrel. First, Competition; Secondly, Diffidence; Thirdly, Glory. The first maketh men invade for Gain; the second, for Safety; and the third, for Reputation. The first use Violence, to make themselves Masters of other mens persons, wives, children, and cattell; the second, to defend them; the third, for trifles, as a word, a smile, a different opinion, and any other signe of undervalue, either direct in their Persons, or by reflexion in their Kindred, their Friends, their Nation, their Profession, or their Name.
