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Isaiah Berlin

Isaiah Berlin Quotes

Philosopher

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Famous Isaiah Berlin Quotes

“I wish my life and decisions to depend upon myself, not on external forces of whatever kind. I wish to be the instrument of my own, not other men's, acts of will. I wish to be the subject, not an object...I wish to be somebody, not nobody; a doer - deciding, not being decided for, slef-directed and not acted upon by external nature or by other men as if I were a thing, or an animal, or a slave incapable of playing a human role, that is, of conceiving goals and policies of my own and realizing them.”

IfsMenHumansKindForceWishGoalRealizingMy OwnDecisionAnimalRolesSubjectsPolicyObjectsDependsDecidedInstrumentsSlaveIncapableDoersConceivingExternal Forces
Author:Isaiah Berlin
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“Both liberty and equality are among the primary goals pursued by human beings throughout many centuries; but total liberty for wolves is death to the lambs, total liberty of the powerful, the gifted, is not compatible with the rights to a decent existence of the weak and the less gifted.”

HumansGoalHuman BeingsPowerfulExistenceLibertyRightsCenturyWeakPrimariesDecentGiftedPursuedLambsCompatibleLiberty And Equality
Book:The Crooked Timber of Humanity: Chapters in the History of Ideas
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“Liberty and equality, spontaneity and security, happiness and knowledge, mercy and justice - all these are ultimate human values, sought for themselves alone; yet when they are incompatible, they cannot all be attained, choices must be made, sometimes tragic losses accepted in the pursuit of some preferred ultimate end.”

HumansMadeEndsSometimesValuesChoicesJusticeLossLibertySecurityMercyUltimateLibertarianAcceptedPursuitTragicSpontaneityHuman ValuesLiberty And EqualityTragic Loss
Book:The Power of Ideas
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“If, as I believe, the ends of men are many, and not all of them are in principle compatible with each other, then the possibility of conflict - and of tragedy - can never wholly be eliminated from human life, either personal or social. The necessity of choosing between absolute claims is then an inescapable characteristic of the human condition. This gives its value to freedom as Acton conceived of it - as an end in itself, and not as a temporary need, arising out of our confused notions and irrational and disordered lives, a predicament which a panacea could one day put right.”

IfsMenNeedsGivingBelieveHumansEndsValuesI BelieveSocialPrinciplesConditionsPossibilityOne DayConflictClaimsTragedyAbsolutesNotionHuman LifeCharacteristicsConfusedTemporaryHuman ConditionIrrationalCompatiblePredicamentsPanacea
Author:Isaiah Berlin
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