Quotes Tagged "philosophy"

Fas est ab hoste doceri. One should learn even from one's enemies.

Be wiser than other people if you can; but do not tell them so.

As a philosopher, if I were speaking to a purely philosophic audience I should say that I ought to describe myself as an Agnostic, because I do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one can prove that there is not a God. On the other hand, if I am to convey the right impression to the ordinary man in the street I think that I ought to say that I am an Atheist, because, when I say that I cannot prove that there is not a God, I ought to add equally that I cannot prove that there are not the Homeric gods.

It is indisputable that the being whose capacities of enjoyment are low, has the greatest chance of having them fully satisfied; and a highly endowed being will always feel that any happiness which he can look for, as the world is constituted, is imperfect. But he can learn to bear its imperfections, if they are at all bearable; and they will not make him envy the being who is indeed unconscious of the imperfections, but only because he feels not at all the good which those imperfections qualify. It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, is of a different opinion, it is only because they only know their own side of the question.

The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.

All men by nature desire knowledge.

The moment you stop trying to become a better person, is the moment you start to become worse than what you already are.

The secret of Buddhism is to remove all ideas, all concepts, in order for the truth to have a chance to penetrate, to reveal itself.

All the world's a stage.

...an optimistic mind-set finds dozens of possible solutions for every problem that the pessimist regards as incurable.

Regardless of the staggering dimensions of the world about us, the density of our ignorance, the risks of catastrophes to come, and our individual weakness within the immense collectivity, the fact remains that we are absolutely free today if we choose to will our existence in its finiteness, a finiteness which is open on the infinite. And in fact, any man who has known real loves, real revolts, real desires, and real will knows quite well that he has no need of any outside guarantee to be sure of his goals; their certitude comes from his own drive.

Except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power.

Life is not about living the safer option. Life is about living a life worth living.

God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance.

I would prefer a sword to fight duel, but a pen to plan a war.

All great things must first wear terrifying and monstrous masks in order to inscribe themselves on the hearts of humanity.

Philosophy ... is a science, and as such has no articles of faith; accordingly, in it nothing can be assumed as existing except what is either positively given empirically, or demonstrated through indubitable conclusions.

I am one thing, my writings are another.

All is mystery; but he is a slave who will not struggle to penetrate the dark veil.

Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it. If change is of the essence of existence one would have thought it only sensible to make it the premise of our philosophy.