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Philosopher Quotes

Browse 2040 quotes about Philosopher.

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Philosopher Quotes

“A writer must always try to have a philosophy and he should also have a psychology and a philology and many other things. Without a philosophy and a psychology and all these various other things he is not really worthy of being called a writer. I agree with Kant and Schopenhauer and Plato and Spinoza and that is quite enough to be called a philosophy. But then of course a philosophy is not the same thing as a style.”

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Author:Gertrude Stein
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“In addition to pumping the blood of life within our bodies, we may think of the heart as a belief-to-matter translator. It converts the perceptions of our experiences, beliefs, and imagination into the coded language of waves that communicate with the world beyond our bodies. Perhaps this is what philosopher and poet John Mackenzie meant when he stated, "The distinction between what is real and what is imaginary is not one that can be finely maintained ... all existing thing are ... imaginary."”

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Author:Gregg Braden
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“It is not unusual to hear a religious leader, a philosopher, or a poet refer to man as having a divine spark within him. Such characterizations infer that man possesses great abilities and potentials. We are frequently admonished to develop our capabilities, reach out, and set high goals for ourselves.”

MenGoalReligiousAbilityLeaderDivinePoetPhilosopherGenerositySparksUnusualCapabilityReach OutCharacterizationReligious LeadersHigh Goals
Author:Ezra Taft Benson
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“A delusion that encourages belief where there is no evidence is asking for trouble. Disagreements between incompatible beliefs cannot be settled by reasoned argument because reasoned argument is drummed out of those trained in religion from the cradle. Instead, disagreements are settled by other means which, in extreme cases, inevitably become violent. Scientists disagree among themselves but they never fight over their disagreements. They argue about evidence or go out and seek new evidence. Much the same is true of philosophers, historians and literary critics.”

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Author:Richard Dawkins
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“I had a friend in college who loved to say: 'If you can dream it, you can do it.' It became my mantra. I assumed it was a pearl of wisdom from some great thinker, a philosopher perhaps, like Descartes. It turned out to be Walt Disney, which in no way diminishes the wisdom of the advice. Anyone who can build a Magic Kingdom deserves to be listened to.”

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Book:Single in the City
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“What shocks the virtuous philosopher, delights the chameleon poet.”

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Book:John Keats - The Man Behind The Lyrics: Life, letters, and literary remains: Complete Letters and Two Extensive Biographies of one of the most beloved English Romantic poets
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“We are not to give credit to the many, who say that none ought to be educated but the free; but rather to the philosophers, who say that the well-educated alone are free.”

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Book:The Works of Epictetus: Consisting of His Discourses, in Four Books, Preserved by Arrian ; The Enchiridion, and Fragments
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“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”

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Author:Epicurus
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“Various accounts of Empedocle's death are given in ancient sources. His enemies said that his desire to be thought a god led him to throw himself into the crater of Mount Etna so that he might vanish from the world completely and thus lead men to believe he had achieved apotheosis. Unfortunately the volcano defeated his design by throwing out one of the philosopher's sandals.”

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Author:Empedocles
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“What difference is there, do you think, between those in Plato's cave who can only marvel at the shadows and images of various objects, provided they are content and don't know what they miss, and the philosopher who has emerged from the cave and sees the real things?”

ThinkingKnowsRealDifferencesMissingObjectsShadowPhilosopherVariousPlatoCavesReal ThingsMissing YouPlato SPlato's Cave
Book:Literary and Educational Writings: Panegyricus and Philippum Austriaeducem. Moriae encomium. Dialogus Julius exclusus e coelis. Institutio principis christiani. Querela pacis
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“As a German philosopher writing in the aftermath of the Nazi regime, Marcuse understood the sleep inducing force of indoctrination, its power to make people forget and forfeit their own real interests. "The fact that the vast majority of the population accepts, and is made to accept, this society does not render it less irrational and less reprehensible," he wrote. "The distinction between true and false consciousness, real and immediate interest still is meaningful."”

PeopleWritingDoeMadeStillsRealFactsForceInterestFreedomSleepForgetConsciousnessAcceptingUnderstoodMajorityPopulationPhilosopherMeaningfulDistinctionRegimesIrrationalNaziIndoctrinationAftermathThis SocietyForfeitTrue And FalseGerman Philosopher
Book:2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl
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“Various philosophers and religious leaders tried to convince their disciples and followers that animals are nothing more than machines without a soul, without feelings. However, anyone who has ever lived with an animal-be it a dog, a bird, or even a mouse-knows that this theory is a brazen lie, invented to justify cruelty.”

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Author:Isaac Bashevis Singer
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“The surface of the Moon is not smooth, uniform, and precisely spherical as a great number of philosophers believe it to be, but is uneven, rough, and full of cavities and prominences, being not unlike the face of the Earth, relieved by chains of mountains and deep valleys.”

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Book:Men of physics: Galileo Galilei, his life and his works
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“The essayist . . . can pull on any sort of shirt, be any sort of person, according to his mood or his subject matter - philosopher, scold, jester, raconteur, confidant, pundit, devil's advocate, enthusiast.”

PersonsMatterPhilosophySubjectsDevilPhilosopherMoodShirtsSubject MatterEssayistsPunditsJesterConfidantDevil's Advocate
Book:In the Words of E.B. White: Quotations from America's Most Companionable of Writers
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“I wish, my dear Kepler, that we could have a good laugh together at the extraordinary stupidity of the mob. What do you think of the foremost philosophers of this University? In spite of my oft-repeated efforts and invitations, they have refused, with the obstinacy of a glutted adder, to look at the planets or the Moon or my glass [telescope].”

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Author:Galileo Galilei
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“Al-Ghazali is the most important philosophical theologian of classical Islam, and Moderation in Belief is among his most important works. It sets out al-Ghazali's Ash?arite theology with unusual clarity and provides important background for such well-known works as his autobiographical Deliverance from Error and his attack on Avicenna in The Incoherence of the Philosophers. This first English-language translation, with notes that bring out the argumentation and background of the work, is thus very much to be welcomed.”

FirstsWellsImportantBeliefLanguageKnownPhilosophicalErrorsNotesIslamPhilosopherBackgroundsTheologyClarityWorking ItAlsUnusualAshesModerationWell KnownTheologianTranslationsEnglish LanguageDeliveranceImportant WorkArgumentationIncoherence
Author:Peter Adamson
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“I've argued that many of what philosophers call moral sentiments can be seen in other species. In chimpanzees and other animals, you see examples of sympathy, empathy, reciprocity, a willingness to follow social rules. Dogs are a good example of a species that have and obey social rules; that's why we like them so much, even though they're large carnivores.”

SocialAnimalMoralAtheismDogExampleEmpathySpeciesPhilosopherPositive AtheismWillingnessSentimentsReciprocityGood ExamplesChimpanzeesCarnivores
Author:Frans de Waal
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“And we daily in our experiments electrise bodies plus or minus, as we think proper. [These terms we may use till your Philosophers give us better.] To electrise plus or minus, no more needs to be known than this, that the parts of the Tube or Sphere, that are rubb'd, do, in the Instant of Friction, attract the Electrical Fire, and therefore take it from the Thin rubbing; the same parts immediately, as the Friction upon them ceases, are disposed to give the fire they have received, to any Body that has less.”

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Author:Benjamin Franklin
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“Even if a king defeats his enemy in battle, that still doesn't settle anything. There are other, less numerous armies of philosophers and scientists, and their contests determine the true triumph or defeat of nations. One scholar is matched with another; one creative mind with another; and one judicious temperament with his counterpart. A victory won on that field counts for three won by force of arms.”

IfsMindStillsThreeForceNationsEnemyCreativeFieldsArmsKingsVictoryBattleScientistArmyDefeatDeterminePhilosopherTriumphSettlingScholarContestsTemperamentCounterpartsMatchedCreative Mind
Author:Cyrano de Bergerac
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