Philosopher

Explore 1213 quotes by Philosophers

The first beginnings of things cannot be distinguished by the eye.

Lucretius

On the Nature of Things

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Topic

New beginnings

Author

Lucretius

Source

On the Nature of Things

Medium

Poem

Genre

Didactic poem Philosophical literature

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. 268.

Current Citation

Carus, Titus Lucretius. The Nature of Things, translated by Alicia Stallings. Penguin Classics, 2007, bk. 1, l. 268.

A general State education is a mere contrivance for moulding people to be exactly like one another.

John Stuart Mill

On Liberty

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Topic

Public education Education Conformity

Author

John Stuart Mill

Source

On Liberty

Medium

Essay

Genre

Philosophical literature Political literature

Language

English

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty. London: J.W. Parker and Son, 1859, ch. 5.

Current Citation

Mill, John Stuart. "On Liberty." On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Other Essays, edited by Mark Philp and Frederick Rosen. Oxford University Press, 2015, ch. 5.

Society cares for the individual only so far as he is profitable.

Simone de Beauvoir

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Topic

Society and the individual The individual

Author

Simone de Beauvoir

Source

The Coming of Age

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1970 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

De Beauvoir, Simone. La Vieillesse [The Coming of Age]. Éditions Gallimard, 1970.

If purpose, then, is inherent in art, so is it in Nature also. The best illustration is the case of a man being his own physician, for Nature is like that-agent and patient at once.

Aristotle

Physics

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Topic

Nature

Author

Aristotle

Source

Physics

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

Greek

Time

350 BC 350s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristotle. Φυσικὴ ἀκρόασις Phusike akroasis [Physics]. 4th century BC.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Physics, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2008.

The goal in life is living in agreement with nature.

Zeno

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

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Topic

Purpose of life Living in harmony

Speaker

Zeno

Author

Diogenes Laërtius

Source

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

200 200s 3rd century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Zeno. Quoted in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, written by Diogenes Laërtius. c. 240 AD, bk. 7, ch. 1, sect. 87.

Current Citation

Zeno. Quoted in The Lives of Eminent Philosophers, written by Diogenes Laërtius, translated by Pamela Mensch, edited by James Miller. Oxford University Press, 2018, bk. 7, ch. 1, sect. 87.

Truths kindle light for truths.

Lucretius

On the Nature of Things

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Topic

Incremental progress Nature of progress Progress Truth

Author

Lucretius

Source

On the Nature of Things

Medium

Poem

Genre

Didactic poem Philosophical literature

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. 1117.

Current Citation

Carus, Titus Lucretius. The Nature of Things, translated by Alicia Stallings. Penguin Classics, 2007, bk. 1, l. 1117.

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.

Cicero

More information about this quote

Topic

Life's necessities Books Gardens

Author

Cicero

Source

Ad Familiares

Medium

Letter

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

44 BC 40s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Letter to Marcus Terentius Varro. c. 46 BC.

Current Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Letters to Friends, edited and translated by D. R. Shackleton Bailey. Vol. 2, Harvard University Press, 2001.

To pursue it is to be human, to give it up is to be a beast.

Xunxi

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Topic

Education Self-improvement

Author

Xunxi

Source

An Exhortation to Learning

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Chinese

Time

250 BC 250s BC 3rd century BC

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Xunzi. Xunzi. c. 238 BC.

Current Citation

Xunzi. Xunzi: The Complete Text, translated by Eric L. Hutton. Princeton University Press, 2014, ch. 1.

The praise of ancient authors proceeds not from the reverence of the dead, but from the competition, and mutual envy of the living.

Thomas Hobbes

Leviathan

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Topic

Western intellectual tradition

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, a review and conclusion.

Current Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, edited by Christopher Brooke. Penguin Classics, 2017, pt. 4, a review and conclusion.

So poetry is something more philosophical and more worthy of serious attention than history, for while poetry is concerned with universal truth, history treats of particular facts.

Aristotle

Poetics

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Topic

Poetry History Truth

Author

Aristotle

Source

Poetics

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

335 BC 330s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristotle. Περὶ ποιητικῆς Peri poietikês [Poetics]. c. 335 BC.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Poetics, translated by James Hutton, edited by David Gorman and Michelle Zerba. W. W. Norton & Company, 2018.

The very spring and root of honesty and virtue lie in good education.

Plutarch

Moralia

More information about this quote

Topic

Education

Author

Plutarch

Source

On the Educaiton of Children Moralia

Medium

Essay

Language

Italian/Latin

Time

100 100s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Plutarch. "Περὶ παίδων ἀγωγῆς [On the Education of Children]." Ἠθικά Ethika [Moralia]. c. 100 AD.

One man's meat is another man's poison.

Lucretius

On the Nature of Things

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Topic

Preferences Taste

Author

Lucretius

Source

On the Nature of Things

Medium

Poem

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

100 BC 100s BC 2nd 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. 4, l. 637.

Current Citation

Carus, Titus Lucretius. The Nature of Things, translated by Alicia Stallings. Penguin Classics, 2007, bk. 4, l. 637.

In the morning, when you are sluggish about getting up, let this thought be present: "I am rising to a man's work."

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

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Topic

Waking up Mornings

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. 5.

Current Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations, edited and translated by Martin Hammond. Penguin Classics, 2015, bk. 5.

The bourgeoisie has subjected the country to the rule of the towns. It has created enormous cities, has greatly increased the urban population as compared with the rural, and has thus rescued a considerable part of the population from the idiocy of rural life.

Karl Marx

The Communist Manifesto

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Topic

Urbanization Small town life Rural vs. urban Bourgeoisie

Author

Karl Marx

Source

The Communist Manifesto

Medium

Pamphlet

Genre

Political literature Economic literature

Language

German

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels [published anonymously]. Manifest der kommunistischen Partei [Manifesto of the Communist Party]. London: Gedruckt in der Office der Bildungs-Gesellschaft für Arbeiter, 1848.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto, translated by Samuel Moore and Friedrich Engels. Penguin Classics, 2002.

Everyone has the potential for self-knowledge and sound thinking.

Heraclitus

More information about this quote

Topic

Self-knowledge Human potential Personal growth

Author

Heraclitus

Medium

Presocratic fragment Fragment

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Xenophanes. Fragments. 5th century BC, F31 - DK22 B116.

Current Citation

Xenophanes. "Xenophanes of Colophon." The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists. Oxford World Classics, 2009, F31 - DK22 B116.

I quote others only in order the better to express myself.

Michel de Montaigne

Essays

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Topic

Quotations Self-expression

Author

Michel de Montaigne

Source

Essays

Medium

Essay

Language

French

Time

1575 1570s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "De l'Institution des Enfants [Of the Education of Children]." Essais [Essays]. Paris: Simon Millanges and Jean Richer, 1580.

Current Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "On Educating Children." The Complete Essays, edited and translated by M. A. Screech. Penguin Classics, 1993.

He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him.

Bion of Borysthenes

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

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Topic

Wealth as burden Downsides of wealth Wealth

Speaker

Bion of Borysthenes

Author

Diogenes Laërtius

Source

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers

Genre

Biography Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

3rd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Bion. Quoted in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, written by Diogenes Laërtius. c. 240 AD, bk. 4, ch. 7, sect. 50.

Current Citation

Bion. Quoted in The Lives of Eminent Philosophers, written by Diogenes Laërtius, translated by Pamela Mensch, edited by James Miller. Oxford University Press, 2018, bk. 4, ch. 7, sect. 50.

All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.

Henry David Thoreau

The Relation of the Individual to the State

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Topic

Revolution Oppression Resisting authority Political theory Politics

Author

Henry David Thoreau

Source

The Relation of the Individual to the State

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thoreau, Henry. "The Relation of the Individual to the State." 26 Jan. 1848, Concord Lyceum, Concord, MA, USA.

Current Citation

Thoreau, Henry. "Civil Disobedience." Walden and Civil Disobedience. Signet, 2012.

The foundation of our faith is the belief that God created the Universe from nothing; that time did not exist previously, but was created.

Maimonides

Guide for the Perplexed

More information about this quote

Topic

Judaism Creation of the universe Time

Author

Maimonides

Source

Guide for the Perplexed

Genre

Religious literature

Language

Judeo-Arabic

Time

1190 1190s 12th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Maimonides. דלאלת אלחאירין [The Guide of the Perplexed]. c. 1190.

Current Citation

Maimonides. The Guide of the Perplexed, translated by Chaim Rabin. Hackett Publishing Company, 1995.

Every artist was first an amateur.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

More information about this quote

Topic

Artistic development Artists

Speaker

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source

Progress of Culture

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1867 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Progress of Culture." Phi Beta Kappa society meeting. 18 July 1867, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, UK.