What’s the worst travel experience you’ve ever had? View all responses The phrase ‘nasty, brutish, and short’ comes from Thomas Hobbes Leviathan, in which he sets out the need to maintain central governments as the head and brain of political decision making, however inadequate and self-interested such governments may be, for they keep populations from … More A trip to York for my birthday was ‘nasty, brutish, and short’, or rather the description should read at the end ‘but short’ in order to emphasise the best part – the homecoming.