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Philosopher Quotes

Browse 2040 quotes about Philosopher.

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Philosopher Quotes

“If the God of revelation is most appropriately worshipped in the temple of religion, the God of nature may be equally honored in the temple of science. Even from its lofty minarets the philosopher may summon the faithful to prayer, and the priest and sage exchange altars without the compromise of faith or knowledge.”

IfsMayGodScienceReligionFaithPrayerKnowledgeAccountsPhilosopherCompromiseFaithfulRevelationsTemplesPriestsSageHonoredAltarsLofty
Author:David Brewster
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“A rock or stone is not a subject that, of itself, may interest a philosopher to study; but, when he comes to see the necessity of those hard bodies, in the constitution of this earth, or for the permanency of the land on which we dwell, and when he finds that there are means wisely provided for the renovation of this necessary decaying part, as well as that of every other, he then, with pleasure, contemplates this manifestation of design, and thus connects the mineral system of this earth with that by which the heavenly bodies are made to move perpetually in their orbits.”

WellsMayMeanMadeHardBodyEarthMovingScienceInterestPleasureStudyLandSubjectsRocksDesignStonesConstitutionPhilosopherManifestationHeavenlyContemplatingGeologyOrbitMineralsRenovationHeavenly Bodies
Book:Theory of the Earth: With Proofs and Illustrations
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“Philosophers, if they have much imagination, are apt to let it loose as well as other people, and in such cases are sometimes led to mistake a fancy for a fact. Geologists, in particular, have very frequently amused themselves in this way, and it is not a little amusing to follow them in their fancies and their waking dreams. Geology, indeed, in this view, may be called a romantic science.”

PeopleIfsWayWellsMayLittlesSometimesFactsDreamRomanceScienceImaginationViewsMistakeCasesParticularAccountsPhilosopherFancyWakingAmusingAmusedGeologyGeologist
Author:Granville Penn
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“It has been said by a distinguished philosopher that England is "usually the last to enter into the general movement of the European mind." The author of the remark probably meant to assert that a man or a system may have become famous on the continent, while we are almost ignorant of the name of the man and the claims of his system. Perhaps, however, a wider range might be given to the assertion. An exploded theory or a disadvantageous practice, like a rebel or a patriot in distress, seeks refuge on our shores to spend its last days in comfort if not in splendour.”

IfsMenMindMayHas BeensSaidMightLastsScienceNamesGivenPracticeMovementHe ManTheoryComfortClaimsEnglandPhilosopherIgnorantRangeShoreRebelContinentsRefugePatriotDistressRemarksDistinguishedAssertionLast DaySplendour
Book:The Conflict of Studies and Other Essays on Subjects Connected with Education
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“The traditional disputes of philosophers are, for the most part, as unwarranted as they are unfruitful. The surest way to end them is to establish beyond question what should be the purpose and method of a philosophical enquiry. And this is by no means so difficult a task as the history of philosophy would lead one to suppose. For if there are any questions which science leaves it to philosophy to answer, a straightforward process of elimination must lead to their discovery.”

IfsWayShouldMeanEndsPhilosophyTruthSciencePurposeProcessDifficultAnswersDiscoveryTasksLogicPhilosophicalMethodPhilosopherTraditionalDisputesStraightforwardEliminationEnquiry
Author:A.J. Ayer
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“On foundations we believe in the reality of mathematics, but of course, when philosophers attack us with their paradoxes, we rush to hide behind formalism and say 'mathematics is just a combination of meaningless symbols,'... Finally we are left in peace to go back to our mathematics and do it as we have always done, with the feeling each mathematician has that he is working with something real. The sensation is probably an illusion, but it is very convenient.”

BelieveRealDoneFeelingsRealityCoursesLeftBehindsIllusionMathematicsFoundationPhilosopherSymbolsCombinationParadoxSensationsMeaninglessMathematicianConvenientSomething Real
Author:Jean Dieudonne
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“We are so far from knowing all the forces of nature and their various modes of action that it would be unworthy of the philosopher to deny phenomena simply because they are inexplicable at the present state of our knowledge. The more difficult it is to acknowledge their existence, the greater the care with which we must study these phenomena.”

StatesWould BeCareActionForceSocialDifficultExistenceKnowingStudyGreaterPhilosophicalPhilosopherVariousDenyAcknowledgeUnworthyInexplicableForces Of Nature
Author:Pierre-Simon Laplace
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“Some philosophers are drawn to the subject [of philosophy] via their interest in the nature and structure of the world external to us. Others are drawn to it by an interest in the capacities that make humans distinctive in the world. I am a philosopher of the latter sort. My work thus far has been clustered around the nexus of knowledge, communication, and human action.”

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Author:Jason Stanley
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“Aristotle, in spite of his reputation, is full of absurdities. He says that children should be conceived in the Winter, when the wind is in the North, and that if people marry too young the children will be female. He tells us that the blood of females is blacker than that of males; that the pig is the only animal liable to measles; that an elephant suffering from insomnia should have its shoulders rubbed with salt, olive-oil, and warm water; that women have fewer teeth than men, and so on. Nevertheless, he is considered by the great majority of philosophers a paragon of wisdom.”

PeopleIfsMenShouldChildrenWisdomYoungScienceSufferingWaterAnimalBloodWindFemaleShould HaveMajorityMalesWinterPhilosopherWarmOilShouldersTeethReputationSpiteFewerSaltPigsNeverthelessAbsurdityElephantsInsomniaLiableOlivesOlive OilMeaslesParagon
Book:An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish: A Hilarious Catalogue of Organized and Individual Stupidity
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“To me, a philosopher who says that the distinction between human and nonhuman depends on whether you have a white or a black skin, and a philosopher who says that the distinction between human and nonhuman depends on whether or not you know the difference between a subject and a predicate, are more alike than they are unlike.”

KnowsHumansBlackDifferencesWhiteAnimalSubjectsDependsEthicsSkinsPhilosopherDistinctionPetAnimal EthicsBlack Skin
Book:Elizabeth Costello
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“The adoption of the required attitude of mind towards ideas that seem to emerge "of their own free will" and the abandonment of the critical function that is normally in operation against them seem to be hard of achievement for some people. The "involuntary thoughts" are liable to release a most violent resistance, which seeks to prevent their emergence. If we may trust that great poet and philosopher Friedrich Schiller, however, poetic creation must demand an exactly similar attitude.”

PeopleIfsMindMayIdeasHardSeemsAttitudeCreationPoetDemandAchievementFunctionPhilosopherCriticalViolentResistanceCraftsReleaseOperationsFree WillPoeticAdoptionAbandonmentLiableEmergenceGreat PoetInvoluntary
Book:The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud
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“No matter what the cause, even though it be to conquer with tanks and planes and modern artillery some defenseless black population, there will be no lack of poets and preachers and essayists and philosophers to invent the necessary reasons and gild the infamy with righteousness. To this righteousness there is, of course, never an adequate reply. Thus a war to end poverty becomes an unanswerable enterprise. For who can decently be for poverty? To even debate whether the war will end poverty becomes an exhibition of ugly pragmatism and the sign of an ignoble mind.”

MindWarEndsMatterReasonCoursesCausesBlackPovertyModernPoetNo Matter WhatPopulationPhilosopherUglyDebateConquerPlanesEnterpriseRighteousnessAnti WarPreacherAdequateTanksExhibitionsPragmatismEssayistsModern ArtDefenselessArtilleryInfamyIgnoble
Book:As We Go Marching
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“The true wisdom of the philosopher ought to insist in enjoying everything. Yet we apply ourselves to dissecting and destroying everything that is good in itself, that has virtue, albeit the virtue there is in mere illusions. Nature gives us this life like a toy to a weak child. We want to see how it all works; we break everything. There remains in our hands, and before our eyes, stupid and opened too late, the sterile wreckage, fragments that will not again make a whole. The good is so simple.”

WantGivingChildrenWholeHandsEyeEnjoyNatureSimpleBreakVirtueStupidOughtLateIllusionWeakRemainsMerePhilosopherThis LifeToo LateDestroyingToysFragmentsWreckageTrue WisdomDissectingDestroying Everything
Author:Eugene Delacroix
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“Since the time of the ancient Greeks a democracy has depended on its philosophers and creative artists. It can only flourish by continuous probing, prodding, and questioning of the social conditions under which man exists and tries to better himself. One of the first moves of a dictatorship is to stifle the artists and thinkers who have the ability to stir up dissent from any prescribed dogma which might enslave them. Because the artist can arouse the curiosity and conscience of his community, he becomes a threat to those who have taken power.”

MenTryingFirstsMightMovingArtistSocialWomenCommunityAbilityCreativeDemocracyTakenConditionsConscienceThreatCuriosityAncientPhilosopherGreekThinkerQuestioningDogmaDictatorshipDissentDemocracies HaveCreative ArtAncient GreekCreative ArtistsSocial ConditionsProbing
Book:Challenge For The Actor
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“The natural scientists of the previous age knew less than we do and believed they were very close to the goal: we have taken very great steps in its direction and now discover we are still very far away from it. With the most rational philosophers an increase in their knowledge is always attended by an increased conviction of their ignorance.”

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Author:Georg C. Lichtenberg
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“With intent to neither idolize nor demonize the man [Barack Obama], it seems fair and evident enough to say that the current president of America is not a leader whose way is that of violent public outbursts. It appears to be more that of a warrior-philosopher who practices the art of political persuasion by authoring acclaimed books, delivering well-crafted speeches, assembling unified coalitions, passing historic legislation, signing well-aimed executive orders, and cultivating a poised but accessible demeanor.”

MenWayWellsArtBookEnoughSeemsAmericaPoliticalOrderPoliticsPresidentLeaderPracticeHe ManPoliticianSpeechFairsPhilosopherCurrentsViolentPassingPassingsWarriorBarackVotingExecutivesLegislationEvidentPersuasionHistoricCoalitionsDeliveringSigningUnifiedCultivatingOutburstDemeanorAssemblingExecutive Orders
Author:Aberjhani
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“The creator of the heavens obeys a carpenter; the God of eternal glory listens to a poor virgin. Has anyone ever witnessed anything comparable to this? Let the philosopher no longer disdain from listening to the common laborer; the wise, to the simple; the educated, to the illiterate; a child of a prince, to a peasant.”

ChildrenHeavenSimplePoorCommonWiseListeningEternalGlorySaintPhilosopherCreatorEducatedCatholicismVirginsPeasantsDisdainIlliterateCarpenterLaborersCatholic Saint
Author:Anthony of Padua
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“The great masses of people do not consist of philosophers; precisely for the masses, faith is often the sole foundation of a moral attitude. The various substitutes have not proved so successful from the standpoint of results that they could be regarded as a useful replacement for previous religious creeds. But if religious doctrine and faith are really to embrace the broad masses, the unconditional authority of the content of this faith is the foundation of all efficacy.”

PeopleIfsReligiousResultsAttitudeMoralSuccessfulAuthorityMassFoundationEmbracePhilosopherVariousDoctrineSubstitutesCatholicismBroadsSoleCreedsUnconditionalStandpointReplacementsEfficacyMein Kampf
Book:Mein Kampf
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“My definition (of a philosopher) is of a man up in a balloon, with his family and friends holding the ropes which confine him to earth and trying to haul him down.”

MenTryingPhilosophyEarthDefinitionsPhilosopherFamily And FriendsRopeBalloonsHaulPhylosophy
Book:LOUISA MAY ALCOTT Ultimate Collection: 16 Novels & 150+ Short Stories, Plays and Poems (Illustrated): Little Women, Good Wives, Little Men, Jo's Boys, A Modern Mephistopheles, Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom, Jack and Jill, Behind a Mask, Lulu's Library, The Abbot's Ghost, A Garland for Girls…
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“Man tries to make for himself in the fashion that suits him best a simplified and intelligible picture of the world; he then tries to some extent to substitute this cosmos of his for the world of experience, and thus to overcome it. This is what the painter, the poet, the speculative philosopher, and the natural scientists do, each in his own fashion. Each makes this cosmos and its construction the pivot of his emotional life, in order to find in this way peace and security which he can not find in the narrow whirlpool of personal experience.”

MenWorldWayLifeTryingOrderNaturalSecurityFashionEmotionalPoetScientistOvercomingPhilosopherPainterSuitsCosmosSubstitutesConstructionCan NotPersonal ExperiencesArt And ScienceEmotional LifePeace And SecurityWhirlpoolsScientist Life
Book:The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein: The Berlin years, writings, 1918-1921
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