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Philosophy quotes

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“Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.” David Hume, “An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding” - 1748

“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” William Shakespeare, “Hamlet” - 1623

“Indeed without death men would scarcely philosophise.” Arthur Schopenhauer, “The World as Will and Representation” - 1819

“The theologian considers sin chiefly as an offense against God; and the moral philosopher, as something contrary to reason.” Thomas Aquinas, “Summa Theologica” - 1274

“Good-humor is a philosophic state of mind; it seems to say to Nature that we take her no more seriously than she takes us. I maintain that one should always talk of philosophy with a smile.” William James, “The Varieties of Religious Experience” - 1902

“Generally speaking, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous.” David Hume, “A Treatise of Human Nature” - 1738

“What’s a philosopher? . . . Someone who’s bright enough to find a job with no heavy lifting” Terry Pratchett, “Small Gods” - 1992

“To teach how to live without certainty, and yet without being paralyzed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy, in our age, can still do for those who study it.” Bertrand Russell, “A History of Western Philosophy” - 1945

“Finding bad reasons for what one believes for other bad reasons—that's philosophy.” Aldous Huxley, “Brave New World” - 1932

“To make light of philosophy is to be a true philosopher.” Blaise Pascal, “Pensées” - 1670

“The trouble was that he was talking in philosophy, but they were listening in gibberish.” Terry Pratchett, “Small Gods” - 1992

“Poetry, therefore, is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular.” Aristotle, “Poetics” - c. 335 BC

“The urge to make art or contemplate philosophy does not go away when you are sick. Those urges just become transfigured by illness.” John Green, “The Fault in Our Stars” - 2012

“Although Oliver had been brought up by philosophers, he was not theoretically acquainted with the beautiful axiom that self-preservation is the first law of nature.” Charles Dickens, “Oliver Twist” - 1838

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance” - 1841

“His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge. Of contemporary literature, philosophy and politics he appeared to know next to nothing.” Arthur Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet” - 1887

“Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend.” Francis Bacon, “The Essays of Francis Bacon” - 1597

“The philosophy of reasoning, to be complete, ought to comprise the theory of bad as well as of good reasoning.” John Stuart Mill, “A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive” - 1843

“A man becomes a philosopher by reason of a certain perplexity, from which he seeks to free himself.” Arthur Schopenhauer, “The World as Will and Representation” - 1819

“All philosophies, if you ride them home, are nonsense; but some are greater nonsense than others.” Samuel Butler, “The Note-Books of Samuel Butler” - 1912

“But neither do these come within the compass of our mental powers; and it was the duty of philosophy to destroy the illusions which had their origin in misconceptions, whatever darling hopes and valued expectations may be ruined by its explanations.” Immanuel Kant, “Critique of Pure Reason” - 1791

“Philosophy cannot be taught; it is the application of the sciences to truth; it is like the golden cloud in which the Messiah went up into heaven.” Alexandre Dumas, “The Count of Monte Cristo” - 1845

“Theology sits rouged at the window and courts its favor, offering to sell her charms to philosophy.” Søren Kierkegaard, “Fear and Trembling” - 1843

“Philosophy cannot and should not give faith, but it should understand itself and know what it has to offer and take nothing away, and least of all should fool people out of something as if it were nothing.” Søren Kierkegaard, “Fear and Trembling” - 1843

“Philosophy lives in words, but truth and fact well up into our lives in ways that exceed verbal formulation.” William James, “The Varieties of Religious Experience” - 1902

“Philosophy is not a theory but an activity.” Ludwig Wittgenstein, “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” - 1921

“Philosophy should make clear and delimit sharply the thoughts which otherwise are, as it were, opaque and blurred.” Ludwig Wittgenstein, “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” - 1921

“Most propositions and questions, that have been written about philosophical matters, are not false, but senseless.” Ludwig Wittgenstein, “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” - 1921

“In philosophy, or religion, or ethics, or politics, two and two might make five, but when one was designing a gun or an aeroplane they had to make four. Inefficient nations were always conquered sooner or later, and the struggle for efficiency...” George Orwell, “1984” - 1949

“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.” Albert Camus, “The Myth of Sisyphus” - 1942

“PHILOSOPHY, n. A route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing.” Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil's Dictionary” - 1906

“Top-heavy was the ship as a dinnerless student with all Aristotle in his head.” Herman Melville, “Moby-Dick” - 1851

“Philosophy, though unable to tell us with certainty what is the true answer to the doubts which it raises, is able to suggest many possibilities which enlarge our thoughts and free them from the tyranny of custom.” Bertrand Russell, “The Problems of Philosophy” - 1912

“A commodity appears, at first sight, a very trivial thing, and easily understood. Its analysis shows that it is, in reality, a very queer thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties.” Karl Marx, “Das Kapital” - 1867

“The feelings of our heart, the agitation of our passions, the vehemence of our affections, dissipate all its conclusions, and reduce the profound philosopher to a mere plebeian.” David Hume, “An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding” - 1748

“whoever wishes to become a philosopher must learn not to be frightened by absurdities.” Bertrand Russell, “The Problems of Philosophy” - 1912

Related topics

truth understanding nature poetry logic history science theory philosopher nonsense wisdom death life doubt mind reason foolishness God ignorance knowledge

Related authors

David Hume (3)
Bertrand Russell (3)
Ludwig Wittgenstein (3)
Arthur Schopenhauer (2)
Terry Pratchett (2)
Søren Kierkegaard (2)
William James (2)
William Shakespeare (1)
George Orwell (1)
Herman Melville (1)
John Green (1)
Charles Dickens (1)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1)
Arthur Conan Doyle (1)
Aldous Huxley (1)
Aristotle (1)
Francis Bacon (1)
John Stuart Mill (1)
Samuel Butler (1)
Ambrose Bierce (1)

Related sources

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (3)
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (2)
The World as Will and Representation (2)
Fear and Trembling (2)
The Varieties of Religious Experience (2)
Small Gods (2)
The Problems of Philosophy (2)
Hamlet (1)
1984 (1)
Moby-Dick (1)
The Fault in Our Stars (1)
Oliver Twist (1)
Self-Reliance (1)
A Study in Scarlet (1)
Brave New World (1)
The Essays of Francis Bacon (1)
A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive (1)
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1)
The Devil's Dictionary (1)
Das Kapital (1)