Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what read ours. -John Locke
Tag Archives: Philosophy Quotes
January
To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June. ~Jean-Paul Sartre
“There’s simply no polite way to tell people they’ve dedicated their lives to an illusion.” ~Daniel Dennett
Daniel Dennett, Philosopher
Change
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. ~ Alan Watts
“Things of this world are in so constant a flux, that nothing remains long in the same state.” ~John Locke
Opinions
“New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.” ~ John Locke
The World We See
“The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.” ~ William James
Expression Of An Opinion
“The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: ifContinue reading “Expression Of An Opinion”
“Who are we to tell anyone what they can or can’t do?” ~John Locke
“Art is not the possession of the few who are recognized writers, painters, musicians; it is the authentic expression of any and all individuality.” ~John Dewey
John Dewey – Philosopher, 1859 – 1952
Children
“There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected questions of a child than the discourses of men.” ~ John Locke, Philosopher, 1632 – 1704
All Truth
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” ~ Arthur Schopenhauer
“Those who fear the facts will forever try to discredit the fact-finders.” ~ Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot, Philosopher, 1713 – 1784
Independent Thinkers
“A society with too few independent thinkers is vulnerable to control by disturbed and opportunistic leaders. A society which wants to create and maintain a free and democratic social system must create responsible independence of thought among its young.” ~ John Dewey, Philosopher, 1859 – 1952
A Higher Revelation
Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soils in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents. Ludwig van Beethoven
Poor People
There are two types of poor people, those who are poor together and those who are poor alone. The first are the true poor, the others are rich people out of luck. ~ Jean-Paul Sartre
“The most thought-provoking thing in our thought-provoking time is that we are still not thinking.” ~Martin Heidegger
“Nothing is everything that doesn’t happen at this very moment.” ~Martin Heidegger
Pursuit Of Money
“In constant pursuit of money to finance campaigns, the political system is simply unable to function. Its deliberative powers are paralyzed.” ~ John Rawls, Philosopher, 1921 – 2002
“Lawyers sometimes tell the truth. They’ll do anything to win a case.” ~Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham, Philosopher, 1748 – 1832
“There is no such thing as freedom of choice unless there is freedom to refuse.” ~David Hume
Bricks
“A concept is a brick. It can be used to build a courthouse of reason. Or it can be thrown through the window.” ~ Gilles Deleuze, Philosopher, 1925 – 1995
“No matter how thin you slice it, there will always be two sides.” ~Baruch Spinoza
Two Ways To Be Fooled
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ~ Soren Kierkegaard
Words
Words differently arranged have a different meaning, and meanings differently arranged have different effects. ~ Blaise Pascal
The Poor
The poor don’t know that their function in life is to exercise our generosity. ~ Jean-Paul Sartre
The secret of theory is that truth does not exist. ~Jean Baudrillard
Freedom Of Choice
“When we can’t think for ourselves, we can always quote” ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein
Living
What is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying. ~Albert Camus
Hell isn’t other people. Hell is yourself. ~Ludwig Wittgenstein
Treasured Wealth
Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. ~Henry David Thoreau
The absurd is the essential concept and the first truth. ~Albert Camus
Mostly it is loss which teaches us the worth things. ~Arthur Schopenauer
Senseless To Think Of Complaining
It is therefore senseless to think of complaining since nothing foreign has decided what we feel, what we live, or what we are. `~Jean-Paul Sartre
Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea. ~Iris Murdoch
“Rules for Happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for.” ~Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant, Philosopher, Born: April 22, 1724 – Died: February 12, 1804
Three Great Things
The three great things of life are: good health; work, and a philosophy of life. ~Jack London
Science is what you know. Philosophy is what you don’t know. ~Bertrand Russell
People
To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do rather than what they say. ~Rene Descartes
“Nothing is everything that doesn’t happen at this very moment.” ~ Martin Heidegger
Boundaries
“A boundary is not that at which something stops, but that from which something begins.” ~ Martin Heidegger, Philosopher ~ 1889 – 1976
Simplify Your Life
“Simplify your life. Don’t waste the years struggling for things that are unimportant. Don’t burden yourself with possessions. Keep your needs and wants simple and enjoy what you have. Don’t destroy your peace of mind by looking back, worrying about the past. Live in the present. Simplify!” ~ Henry David Thoreau
Dreaming
“It is possible that I am dreaming right now and that all of my perceptions are false.” ~ Rene Descartes, Philosopher ~ 1596 – 1650
“I know that I exist; the question is, What is this ‘I’ that ‘I’ know.” ~Rene Descartes
“How can you be certain that your whole life is not a dream?” ~Rene Descartes
Fear
“To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.” ~ Bertrand Russell
“The wise man can change his mind; the stubborn one, never.” ~Immanuel Kant
Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
I don’t know why we are here, but I’m pretty sure it is not in order to enjoy ourselves. ~Ludwig Wittgenstein
There is a life and there is a death, and there are beauty and melancholy between. ~Albert Camus
To Be
“To be is to be perceived (Esse est percipi).” Or, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” ~ George Berkeley
“All perception is a gamble.” ~Edmund Husserl
People Know What They Do
“People know what they do; frequently they know why they do what they do; but what they don’t know is what what they do does.” ~ Michel Foucault, Philosopher – Born: October 15, 1926 – Died: June 25, 1984
“Ignorance leads to fear, fear leads to hate, and hate leads to violence. This is the equation.” ~Averroes
Averroes, Philosopher – Born: April 14, 1126-Died: December 10, 1198
The body
“The body is to be compared, not to a physical object, but rather to a work of art.” ~ Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Philosopher ~ 1908-1961
“All consciousness is consciousness of something” ~Edmund Husserl
Two People
“Whenever two people meet, there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is.” ~ William James
Time is the most unknown of all unknown things. ~Aristotle
Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats. ~Voltaire
Materials Of Knowledge
“Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.” ~ John Locke
“What worries you, masters you.” ~ John Locke
“Life is a constant process of dying.” ~Arthur Schopenhauer
“Just remember, once you’re over the hill you begin to pick up speed.” ~Arthur Schopenhauer
Majority Of Men
“The majority of men… are not capable of thinking, but only of believing, and… are not accessible to reason, but only to authority.” ~ Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher – 1788-1860
“If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past.” ~Baruch Spinoza
Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge. ~Carl Jung
To be is to be perceived. (Esse est percipi) ~Bishop ~George Berkeley
“To choose not to choose is still to act.” ~Jean-Paul Sartre
One Day Left
“There is only one day left, always starting over: it is given to us at dawn and taken away from us at dusk.” ~ Jean-Paul Sartre
“I rebel; therefore I exist.” ~Albert Camus
Nihilist
A nihilist is not one who believes in nothing, but one who does not believe in what exists. ~ Albert Camus
“Curiosity is the lust of the mind.” ~ Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes – Philosopher, 1588-1679
“We are our choices.” ~Jean-Paul Sartre
“If you are lonely when you’re alone, you are in bad company.” ~Jean-Paul Sartre
“I know what I can know, and am not troubled about what I cannot know.” ~Johann Gottlieb Fichte*
*Philosopher, 1762-1814
Lie Is A Lie
“But a lie is a lie, and in itself intrinsically evil, whether it be told with good or bad intents.” ~ Immanuel Kant
You only know me as you see me, not as I actually am. ~Immanuel Kant
Three Things
“Three things tell a man: his eyes, his friends and his favorite quotes” ~ Immanuel Kant
“Every word has consequences. Every silence, too.” ~Jean-Paul Sartre
“How can you be certain that your whole life is not a dream?” ~ Rene Descartes
Good Books
“The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.” ~ Rene Descartes
Free Will
“Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.” ~ Jawaharlal Nehru
“Who lies for you will lie against you.” ~ John Locke
Philosophy is common sense with big words. ~James Madison
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” ~Soren Kierkegaard
Watch Your Thoughts
“Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habit.” ~ Laozi
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” ~ Aristotle
Philosophical Animal
“It is difficult to obtain the friendship of a cat. It is a philosophical animal… one that does not place its affections thoughtlessly.” ~ Theophile Gautier
Philosophical Questions
“Philosophical questions are not by their nature insoluble. They are, indeed, radically different from scientific questions, because they concern the implications and other interrelations of ideas, not the order of physical events; their answers are interpretations instead of factual reports, and their function is to increase not our knowledge of nature, but our understanding ofContinue reading “Philosophical Questions”
“Those who lack the courage will always find a philosophy to justify it.” ~ Albert Camus
Are We Human
“A philosopher once asked, “Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?” Pointless, really…”Do the stars gaze back?” Now that’s a question.” ~ Neil Gaiman
To Be A Philosopher
“To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity and trust.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
“Life is just one cup of coffee after another, and don’t look for anything else.” ~Bertrand Russell
The Wonder Remains
“Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best, the wonder remains.” ~ Alfred North Whitehead
“There are no whole truths: All truths are half-truths.” ~Alfred North Whitehead
To think is to differ. ~Clarence Darrow
“A person is able to understand only when he solves the problem by himself.” ~Peter Deunov
Peter Deunov, Bulgarian Philosopher – July 11, 1864 – December 27, 1944
Nothing In Nature
“Nothing in nature is by chance… Something appears to be chance only because of our lack of knowledge.” ~ Baruch Spinoza
Equal Right
“All men by nature are equal in that equal right that every man hath to his natural freedom, without being subjected to the will or authority of any other man; being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions.” ~ John Locke
A Pondering Mind 