John Locke was a very important English philosopher in the 17th century. He had many ideas that contributed to the Enlightenment greatly. In the quote above, John Locke states that all humans are equal and no one should take away life, health, liberty or possessions, also known as natural rights. Locke explained that all humans were born equal with a blank slate or "Tabula Rasa". This meant that everyone was affected by their own personal experiences throughout life. This theory assisted in many ideas such as the social contract. Locke's idea of natural rights, branched out to another idea that the governments main purpose is to protect these rights using two methods, legislation and execution. Legislation creates laws, while execution enforces the laws. Locke uses his main ideas of all humans are equal and natural rights in this quote to summarize all of his work he has done.