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Philosophical Quotes

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Philosophical Quotes

“Slavery in America was perpetuated not merely by human badness but also by human blindness. ... Men convinced themselves that a system that was so economically profitable must be morally justifiable. ... Science was commandeered to prove the biological inferiority of the Negro. Even philosophical logic was manipulated [exemplified by] an Aristotlian syllogism: All men are made in the image of God; God, as everyone knows, is not a Negro; Therefore, the Negro is not a man.”

Knows Men Humans Made America Money Prove Logic Philosophical Slavery Convinced Blindness Profitable Inferiority God Image Badness Slavery In America

Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Of all the senseless babble I have ever had occasion to read, the demonstrations of these philosophers who undertake to tell us all about the nature of God would be the worst, if they were not surpassed by the still greater absurdities of the philosophers who try to prove that there is no God.”

Ifs Trying Stills God Would Be Greater Worst Prove Philosophical Philosopher Occasions Absurdity Demonstration There Is No God

Author:Thomas Huxley

“For me, Stalinism was even a greater philosophical problem than Nazism. Under Nazism, if you were a Jew, you were simply killed, no questions asked, you had nothing to prove. Under Stalinism, of course, most [victims] were on trial for false accusations; most of them were not traitors. There is one interesting feature: that they were tortured or through some kind of blackmail forced to confess to being traitors.”

Ifs Kind Problem Courses Interesting Greater Prove Philosophical Victim Jew Trials Features Traitor Nazism Accusation Blackmail Stalinism Questions Asked False Accusation

Author:Slavoj Žižek

“It is one thing to say that science is only equipped to test for natural causes and cannot speak to any others. It is quite another to insist that science proves that no other causes could possibly exist. . . . There would be no experimental model for testing the statement: 'No supernatural cause for any natural phenomenon is possible.' It is therefore a philosophical presupposition and not a scientific finding.”

Would Be Speak Causes Natural One Thing Prove Findings Models Tests Philosophical Statements Phenomenon Testing Natural Phenomena

Author:Timothy Keller

“My ex-wife was a philosophy major at NYU. Yeah, she and I used to have deep philosophical discussions where she would prove that I didn't exist.”

Philosophy Used Wife Prove Majors Philosophical Yeah Discussion Exes Ex Wife Nyu Deep Philosophical

Author:Woody Allen

“But Mousie, thou art no thy lane In proving foresight may be vain The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain For promis'd joy!”

Men May Art Pain Joy Grief Prove Philosophical Vain Schemes Mice Gang Lanes Foresight Best Laid Plans

Book:The Best Laid Schemes: Selected Poetry and Prose of Robert Burns

Source: The Best Laid Schemes: Selected Poetry and Prose of Robert Burns

“More and more people are becoming unable to accept traditional [religious] beliefs. If they think that, apart from these beliefs, there is no reason for kindly behaviour, the results may be needlessly unfortunate. That is why it is important to show that no supernatural reasons are needed to make [people] kind and to prove that only through kindness can the human race achieve happiness.”

Source: Last Philosophical Testament: 1943-68

“In it he proves that all things are true and states how the truths of all contradictions may be reconciled physically, such as for example that white is black and black is white; that one can be and not be at the same time; that there can be hills without valleys; that nothingness is something and that everything, which is, is not. But take note that he proves all these unheard-of paradoxes without any fallacious or sophistical reasoning.”

May States Black White Example Prove All Things Philosophical Notes Hills Reasoning Contradiction Paradox Valleys Nothingness Unheard

Author:Cyrano de Bergerac

“How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?”

Inspirational Ideas States Moments Dream Sleep Talking Prove Wake Up Philosophical Awake Waking Our Thoughts Wise Man Once Said Greek Philosopher

Book:Writings of Plato

Source: Writings of Plato

“What you believe matters, however. It’s all anyone has to act on. And since what you do is who you are, your actions define you. If you don’t believe anything is true simply because you can’t logically prove what’s true, you won’t do anything. You won’t be anything. You’ll end up spending your life in a rocking chair looking out at the horizon waiting for an answer that never comes. You might as well be dead. It’s an old philosophical problem.”

Ifs Believe Wells Ends Matter Problem Might Action Waiting Answers Prove Philosophical Who You Are Don't Believe Spending Chairs Horizon True You Define You Rocking Chairs

Author:Russell Banks

“I had some hesitations about philosophy because, if you worked out a philosophical theory, it was hard to know whether you were going to be able to prove it or whether other theories had just as good a claim on belief.”

Ifs Knows Hard Philosophy Able Belief Theory Prove Claims Philosophical Hesitation Prove It

Author:Stephen Cole Kleene