Quote by Thomas Hobbes: “The only way to erect such a common power is to confer all their power upon one man.”

Hobbes argues that for a society to escape chaos, individuals must collectively surrender their rights and power to a single, absolute sovereign. This strong central authority is, in his view, the only mechanism capable of maintaining peace and preventing the return to a state of nature, where life is 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short'.

This was Hobbes's core proposal for political stability in post-civil war England. He saw the fragmentation of power as the root cause of conflict, advocating for an undivided sovereignty to ensure security and order above all else, thereby preventing further civil unrest.

English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book Leviathan, in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory.