Philosopher

Explore 1213 quotes by Philosophers

True and False are attributes of speech, not of things. And where speech is not, there is neither Truth nor Falsehood.

Thomas Hobbes

Leviathan

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Topic

Truth and lies Truth Lies Words

Author

Thomas Hobbes

Source

Leviathan

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1651 1650s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil. London: Andrew Crooke, 1651, pt. 1, ch. 4.

Current Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, edited by Christopher Brooke. Penguin Classics, 2017, pt. 1, ch. 4.

We have our Arts so we won't die of Truth.

Friedrich Nietzsche

The Will to Power

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Topic

Art Truth

Author

Friedrich Nietzsche

Source

The Will to Power

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1888 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Der Wille zur Macht [The Will to Power]. Leipzig: C.G. Naumann, 1906.

Current Citation

Nietzsche, Frederick. The Will to Power, translated by Walter Kaufmann and R. J. Hollingdale, edited by Walter Kaufmann. Vintage, 1968.

Let us work without reasoning, it is the only way to make life endurable.

Voltaire

Candide

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Topic

Reason and emotion

Speaker

Martin

Author

Voltaire

Source

Candide

Medium

Novel

Genre

Satire

Language

French

Time

1759 1750s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Voltaire. Candide, ou l'Optimisme [Candide: or, All for the Best]. Geneva: Gabriel Cramer, 1759, ch. 30.

Current Citation

Voltaire. Candide, edited by Nicholas Cronk. W. W. Norton & Company, 2016, ch. 30.

Common sense is not so common.

Voltaire

Philosophical Dictionary

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Topic

Common sense

Author

Voltaire

Source

Philosophical Dictionary

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1764 1760s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Voltaire [published anonymously]. "Sens Commun [Common Sense]." Dictionnaire Philosophique Portatif. Geneva: Gabriel Grasset, 1764.

Current Citation

Voltaire. A Pocket Philosophical Dictionary, edited by Nicholas Cronk, translated by John Fletcher. Oxford University Press, 2011.

Each thing is of like form from everlasting and comes round again in its cycle.

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

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Topic

Circle of life

Author

Marcus Aurelius

Source

Meditations

Medium

Personal journal

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

180 180s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. c. 180, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations, edited and translated by Martin Hammond. Penguin Classics, 2015, bk. 2.

Death is, you see, one or the other of two things: either to be dead is to be non-existent, as it were, and a dead person has no awareness of anything at all; or else, as we are told, the soul undergoes some sort of transformation, or exchanging of this present world for another.

Socrates

Quoted in Apology, by Plato

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Topic

Mystery of death The afterlife Death Oblivion The soul

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Apology

Medium

Courtroom speech Speech

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

399 BC 390s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plato. Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους [Apology of Socrates]. Speech of legal self-defence which Socrates spoke at his trial for impiety and corruption. 399 BC, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Plato. "Apology." Plato: Euthyphro; Apology; Crito; Phaedo, translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones and William Preddy. Harvard University Press, 2017.

Nothing can be created from nothing.

Lucretius

On the Nature of Things

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Topic

Creation Nothingness

Author

Lucretius

Source

On the Nature of Things

Medium

Poem

Genre

Didactic poem Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Precepts and axioms

Language

Latin

Time

55 BC 50s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Carus, Titus Lucretius. De Rerum Natura [On the Nature of Things]. c. 55 BC, bk. 1, l. 155.

Current Citation

Carus, Titus Lucretius. The Nature of Things, translated by Alicia Stallings. Penguin Classics, 2007, bk. 1, l. 155.

Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

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Topic

Honor

Author

Marcus Aurelius

Source

Meditations

Medium

Personal journal

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

180 180s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. c. 180, bk. 3.

Current Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations, edited and translated by Martin Hammond. Penguin Classics, 2015, bk. 3.

The papacy is no other than the ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof.

Thomas Hobbes

Leviathan

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Topic

Catholic church Roman empire

Author

Thomas Hobbes

Source

Leviathan

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1651 1650s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil. London: Andrew Crooke, 1651, pt. 4, ch. 47.

Current Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, edited by Christopher Brooke. Penguin Classics, 2017, pt. 4, ch. 47.

There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has said it.

Cicero

On Divination

More information about this quote

Topic

Philosophers Viewpoint diversity

Author

Cicero

Source

On Divination

Medium

Philosophical dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

44 BC 40s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. De Divinatione [Concerning Divination]. c. 44 BC, bk. 2, ch 58, sect. 119.

Our nature lies in movement; complete calm is death.

Blaise Pascal

Pensées

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Topic

Stillness Taking action Human nature

Author

Blaise Pascal

Source

Pensées

Medium

Epigram

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1662 1660s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pascal, Blaise. Pensées [Thoughts]. Paris: Chez G. Desprez, 1670, no. 129.

Current Citation

Pascal, Blaise. "Pensées." Pensées and Other Writings, edited by Anthony Levi, translated by Honor Levi. Oxford University Press, 2008, no. 129.

The state of man: inconstancy, boredom, anxiety.

Blaise Pascal

Pensées

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Topic

The human condition

Author

Blaise Pascal

Source

Pensées

Medium

Epigram

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1662 1660s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pascal, Blaise. Pensées [Thoughts]. Paris: Chez G. Desprez, 1670, no. 127.

Current Citation

Pascal, Blaise. "Pensées." Pensées and Other Writings, edited by Anthony Levi, translated by Honor Levi. Oxford University Press, 2008, no. 127.

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essays: First Series (Emerson)

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Topic

Inner peace

Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source

Self-Reliance Essays: First Series (Emerson)

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1841 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance." Essays: First Series. Boston: James Munroe and Company, 1841.

Current Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance (1841)." The Portable Emerson, edited by Jeffrey S. Cramer. Penguin Classics, 2014.

Pleasure is the beginning and the end of living happily.

Epicurus

Quoted in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, by Diogenes Laërtius

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Topic

Hedonism Pleasure Happiness How to live

Speaker

Epicurus

Author

Diogenes Laërtius

Source

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

400 400s 3rd century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Epicurus. Quoted in Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, written by Diogenes Laertius. c. 240 AD, bk. 10, ch. 1, sect. 128.

Current Citation

Epicurus. Quoted in The Lives of Eminent Philosophers, written by Diogenes Laërtius, translated by Pamela Mensch, edited by James Miller. Oxford University Press, 2018, bk. 10, ch. 1, sect. 128.

A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence.

David Hume

An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

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Topic

Beliefs Evidence

Author

David Hume

Source

Of Miracles An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1748 1740s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hume, David. "Of Miracles." An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. London: A. Millar, 1748, sect. 10, pt. 1, para. 4.

Current Citation

Hume, David. "Of Miracles." An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, edited by Tom L. Beauchamp. Oxford University Press, 2000, sect. 10, pt. 1, para. 4.

The universe and I exist together, and all things and I are one.

Zhuang Zhou

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Topic

Interconnectedness of all things Man and the universe The universe

Author

Zhuang Zhou

Source

Zhuang Zhou

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Chinese

Time

221 BC 220s BC 3rd century BC

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Zhou, Zhuang. 莊子 [Zhuangzi]. c. 221 BC, ch. 2.

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor.

Henry David Thoreau

Walden

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Topic

Personal growth Self-improvement

Author

Henry David Thoreau

Source

Where I Lived, And What I Lived For Walden

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1854 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Where I Lived, And What I Lived For." Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854.

Current Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Where I Lived, And What I Lived For." Walden and Civil Disobedience. Signet, 2012.

The great man is he who does not lose his child's heart.

Mencius

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Topic

Great men Man and child

Author

Mencius

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Chinese

Time

300 BC 300s BC 4th century BC

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Mencius. Mengzi. c. 300 BC, bk. 4.

Current Citation

Mencius. Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau. Penguin Classics, 2005, bk. 4.

The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.

Aristotle

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Topic

Butterfly effect Little things make a big difference

Author

Aristotle

Source

On the Heavens

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

Greek

Time

350 BC 350s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Aristotle. Περὶ οὐρανοῦ [On the Heavens]. c. 350 BC.

Current Citation

Aristotle. De Caelo, translated by C. D. C. Reeve. Hackett Publishing, 2020.

Old age: the crown of life, our play's last act.

Cicero

On Old Age

More information about this quote

Topic

Old age

Author

Cicero

Source

On Old Age

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

44 BC 40s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Cato Maior de Senectute [Cato the Elder on Old Age]. c. 1885, ch. 23, sect. 85.

Current Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Cicero: Cato Maior de Senectute [Cato the Elder on Old Age], edited by J. G. F. Powell. Cambridge University Press, 2004.