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Josef Pieper

Josef Pieper Quotes

Philosopher

Josef Pieper was a German philosopher known for his research into the Western philosophical tradition and his critical analysis of modern culture. His works covered various fields such as ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics, and had a profound impact on contemporary philosophy and the intellectual world.

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All Contemplation Men Leisure Mean World Doe Existence Ifs Intuition Knows Philosophy Divine Elements God Happens Happiness Humans May Reality Said

Famous Josef Pieper Quotes

“[T]o know means to reach the reality of existing things[.]”

Knows Mean Reality Know Me

Author:Josef Pieper

“The happy life does not mean loving what we possess, but possessing what we love." Possession of the beloved, St. Thomas holds, takes place in an act of cognition, in seeing, in intuition, in contemplation.”

Mean Doe Seeing Possession Intuition Beloved Contemplation Happy Life Possessing Cognition St Thomas

Author:Josef Pieper

“Leisure is only possible when we are at one with ourselves. We tend to overwork as a means of self-escape, as a way of trying to justify our existence.”

Way Trying Mean Self Existence Justify Leisure Overwork

Author:Josef Pieper

“If in this supreme test, in face of which the braggart falls silent and every heroic gesture is paralyzed, a man walks straight up to the cause of his fear and is not deterred from doing that which is good -- which ultimately means for the sake of God, and therefore not from ambition or from fear of being taken for a coward -- this man, and he alone, is truly brave.”

Source: The four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance

“Happiness and joy are not the same. For what does the fervent craving for joy mean? It does not mean that we wish at any cost to experience the psychic state of being joyful. We want to have reason for joy, for an unceasing joy that fills us utterly, sweeps all before it, exceeds all measure.”

Want Mean Doe States Reason Joy Wish Cost Joyful Psychics Craving Exceed Joy And Happiness Fervent Being Joyful

Author:Josef Pieper

“To celebrate a festival means: to live out, for some special occasion and in an uncommon manner, the universal assent to the world as a whole.”

World Mean Whole Special Universal Celebrate Occasions Festivals Uncommon Special Occasion

Book:An Anthology

Source: An Anthology

About the Author

Born: May 4, 1904
Died: November 6, 1997
Known for: Philosopher
Quotes: 47

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Contemplation Men Leisure Mean World Doe Existence Ifs Intuition Knows Philosophy Divine Elements God Happens Happiness Humans May Reality Said

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Books & Sources

The four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, temperanceRelated source material

An AnthologyRelated source material

Leisure: The Basis of CultureRelated source material

Happiness and ContemplationRelated source material

Leisure, the Basis of CultureRelated source material

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