“Gentleness and peacefulness regulate our proceedings; theirs are dictated by fury. We employ reason, they accumulate faggots. They preach nothing but love, and breathe nothing but blood. Their words are humane, but their hearts are cruel.” HeartReasonBloodAtheismPositive AtheismBreatheGentlenessHumaneFuryProceedingPeacefulness Author:Denis Diderot
“Instinct guides the animal better than the man. In the animal it is pure, in man it is led astray by his reason and intelligence.” MenReasonAnimalHe ManPureInstinctGuides Book:The irresistible Diderot Source: The irresistible Diderot
“If there were a reason for preferring the Christian religion to natural religion, it would be because the former offers us, on the nature of God and man, enlightenment that the latter lacks. Now, this is not at all the case; for Christianity, instead of clarifying, gives rise to an infinite multitude of obscurities and difficulties.” IfsMenGivingReasonWould BeChristianNaturalChristianityCasesAtheismOffersEnlightenmentDifficultyInfinitePositive AtheismFormerLatterMultitudesObscurityClarifying Author:Denis Diderot
“One must be oneself very little of a philosopher not to feel that the finest privilege of our reason consists in not believing in anything by the impulsion of a blind and mechanical instinct, and that it is to dishonour reason to put it in bonds as the Chaldeans did. Man is born to think for himself.” ThinkingMenFeelsBelieveLittlesReasonBornAtheismBlindInstinctPrivilegeOneselfPhilosopherPositive AtheismFinestDishonour Author:Denis Diderot
“The good of the people must be the great purpose of government. By the laws of nature and of reason, the governors are invested with power to that end. And the greatest good of the people is liberty. It is to the state what health is to the individual.” PeopleEndsStatesReasonGovernmentLawPurposeIndividualLibertyAtheismPositive AtheismGovernorsLaws Of NaturePurpose Of Government Author:Denis Diderot
“All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone's feelings... We must run roughshod over all these ancient puerilities, overturn the barriers that reason never erected, give back to the arts and sciences the liberty that is so precious to them.” GivingArtReasonFeelingsRunningLibertyAll ThingsRegardAncientExceptionBarriersGiving BackArt And Science Author:Denis Diderot
“If reason be a gift of Heaven, and we can say as much of faith, Heaven has certainly made us two gifts not only incompatible, but in direct contradiction to each other. In order to solve the difficulty, we are compelled to say either that faith is a chimera or that reason is useless.” IfsMadeTwoReasonOrderHeavenDirectDifficultySolveUselessContradictionCompelledChimera Author:Denis Diderot
“No man has received from nature the right to give orders to others. Freedom is a gift from heaven, and every individual of the same species has the right to enjoy it as soon as he is in enjoyment of his reason.” MenGivingReasonOrderIndividualHeavenEnjoyFreedomSpeciesPositive AtheismEnjoyment Book:Selected Writings Source: Selected Writings
“This root [the potato], no matter how much you prepare it, is tasteless and floury. It cannot pass for an agreeable food, but it supplies a food sufficiently abundant and sufficiently healthy for men who ask only to sustain themselves. The potato is criticized with reason for being windy, but what matters windiness for the vigorous organisms of peasants and laborers?” MenMatterReasonAsksHealthyRootsVegetablesWhat MattersOrganismsPotatoesPeasantsVigorousSuppliesLaborersWindy Author:Denis Diderot
“Our observation of nature must be diligent, our reflection profound, and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined; and for this reason, creative geniuses are not common.” MeanReasonThreeLiteratureCommonCreativityCreativeGeniusReflectionExperienceProfoundExperimentsObservationDiligentCreative Genius Book:The irresistible Diderot Source: The irresistible Diderot
