Philosopher

Explore 1213 quotes by Philosophers

A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essays: First Series (Emerson)

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Topic

Friends

Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source

Friendship Essays: First Series (Emerson)

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1841 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

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

Current Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Friendship." The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, edited by Brooks Atkinson. Modern Library, 2000.

What is called monarchy, always appears to me a silly, contemptible thing. I compare it to something kept behind a curtain, about which there is a great deal of bustle and fuss, and a wonderful air of seeming solemnity; but when, by any accident, the curtain happens to be open, and the company see what it is, they burst into laughter.

Thomas Paine

Rights of Man

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Topic

Monarchy

Author

Thomas Paine

Source

Rights of Man

Genre

Philosophical literature Political literature

Language

English

Time

1792 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Paine, Thomas. Rights of man. Part the second. London: J. S. Jordan, 1792.

Current Citation

Paine, Thomas. "Rights of Man Part the second." Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Other Political Writings, edited by Mark Philp. Oxford University Press, 2009.

One who is serious all day will never have a good time, while one who is frivolous all day will never establish a household.

Ptahhotep

The Maxims of Ptahhotep

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Topic

Balance

Author

Ptahhotep

Source

The Maxims of Ptahhotep

Genre

Wisdom literature

Language

Egyptian/Hieroglypics

Time

2375 BC 2370s BC 24th century BC

Era

Egyptian Middle Kingdom

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Ptahhotep. The Maxims of Ptahhotep. c. 2375, maxim 25.

If a warrior is not unattached to life and death, he will be of no use whatsoever.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

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Topic

Martial courage Courage War

Author

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Source

Hagakure

Genre

Philosophical literature Religious literature

Language

Japanese

Time

1716 1710s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Yamamoto, Tsunemomo. 葉隠 [Hagakure]. c. 1716.

What do we perceive besides our own ideas or sensations?

George Berkeley

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Topic

Perception Nature of reality

Author

George Berkeley

Source

Of the Principles of Human Knowledge

Medium

Treatise

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1710 1710s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Berkeley, George. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. Dublin: Jeremy Pepat, 1710, sect. 4.

Current Citation

Berkeley, George. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, edited by Kenneth P. Winkler. Hackett Publishing Company, 1982, sect. 4.

A great step towards independence is a good humored stomach, one that is willing to endure rough treatment.

Seneca the Younger

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Topic

Adaptability

Author

Seneca the Younger

Source

Epistles (Seneca the Younger)

Medium

Letter

Language

Latin

Time

65 60s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Seneca the Younger. Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium [Moral Letters to Lucilius]. c. 65 AD.

Current Citation

Seneca, Lucius Annaeus. Letters on Ethics, translated by Margaret Graver and A. A. Long. University of Chicago Press, 2017.

The soul is the effect and instrument of a political anatomy; the soul is the prison of the body.

Michel Foucault

Discipline and Punish

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Topic

Body and soul The soul

Author

Michel Foucault

Source

Discipline and Punish

Genre

Historical literature Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1975 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Foucault, Michel. Surveiller et punir: Naissance de la prison [Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison]. Gallimard, 1975.

Interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art.

Susan Sontag

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Topic

Meaning of art Art

Author

Susan Sontag

Source

Against Interpretation

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1966 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sontag, Susan "Against Interpretation." Against Interpretation. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1966.

It is not reasonable that he who does not shoot should hit the mark, nor that he who does not stand fast at his post should win the day, or that the helpless man should succeed or the coward prosper.

Plutarch

Plutarch's Lives

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Topic

Taking action

Author

Plutarch

Source

Aemilius Plutarch's Lives

Genre

Biography Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

2nd century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plutarch. "Aemilius Paulus." Βίοι Παράλληλοι [Parallel Lives]. c. 2nd century.

Current Citation

Plutarch. "Aemilius." Roman Lives: A Selection of Eight Roman Lives, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2009.

I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.

Thomas Paine

The American Crisis

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Topic

Overcoming adversity Adversity

Author

Thomas Paine

Source

The American Crisis

Medium

Pamphlet

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1776 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Paine, Thomas. The American Crisis: Number 1. Philadelphia: Styner and Cist, 1776.

Current Citation

Paine, Thomas. "The American Crisis, Number I, December 19, 1776." Common Sense, The Crisis, & Other Writings from the American Revolution. Library of America, 2015.

We are not disturbed by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens to us.

Epictetus

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Topic

Thoughts Inner turmoil

Author

Epictetus

Source

The Enchiridion

Language

Greek

Time

125 120s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Epictetus. Ἐγχειρίδιον Ἐπικτήτου, Enkheirídion Epiktḗtou [Enchiridion of Epictetus]. c. 125 CE, ch. 5.

Current Citation

Epictetus. Enchiridion, translated by George Long. Dover Publications, 2004, ch. 5.

Man is a child of the customs and the things he has become used to. He is not the product of his natural disposition and temperment. The conditions to which he has become accustomed, until they have become for him a quality of character and matters of habit and custom, have replaced his natural disposition.

Ibn Khaldun

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Topic

Custom and convention

Author

Ibn Khaldun

Source

The Muqaddimah

Language

Arabic

Time

1377 1370s 14th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Khaldun, Ibn. مقدّمة ابن خلدون [The Muqaddimah]. 1377, bk. 1, ch. 2, sect. 5.

The basic tenets of our Torah and its fundamental principles are thirteen in number: The first fundamental principle is the existence of the Creator. There is a being who exists in the most perfect mode of existence, and he is the cause of he existence of all other beings.

Maimonides

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Topic

Nature of God God

Author

Maimonides

Genre

Religious literature

Language

Judeo-Arabic

Time

1168 1160s 12th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Maimonides. Commentary on the Mishnah Torah. c. 1168.

Current Citation

Maimonides. "Commentary on Mishnah 1." The Essential Maimonides: Translations of the Rambam, translated by Avraham Yaakov Finkel. Jason Aronson, Inc., 1996.

For all knowledge and wonder (which is the seed of knowledge) is an impression of pleasure in itself.

Francis Bacon

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Topic

Nature of knowledge Knowledge

Author

Francis Bacon

Source

The Advancement of Learning

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1605 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Bacon, Francis. The Advancement of Learning. London: Oxford: Rob Youn and Ed Forrest, 1605, bk. 1, ch. 1, sect. 3.

Current Citation

Bacon, Francis. "The Advancement of Learning." Francis Bacon: The Major Works, edited by Brian Vickers. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 1, ch. 1, sect. 3.

Not a place upon earth might be so happy as America. Her situation is remote from all the wrangling world, and she has nothing to do but to trade with them.

Thomas Paine

The American Crisis

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Topic

America and the world America

Author

Thomas Paine

Source

The American Crisis

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1776 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Paine, Thomas. The American Crisis: Number 1. Philadelphia: Styner and Cist, 1776.

Current Citation

Paine, Thomas. "The American Crisis, Number I, December 19, 1776." Common Sense, The Crisis, & Other Writings from the American Revolution. Library of America, 2015.

To acquiesce in despair is the very way to make despairing forecasts come true.

Bertrand Russell

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Topic

Giving up Hopelessness and despair Hope

Author

Bertrand Russell

Source

No Funk, No Frivolity, No Fanaticism The New York Times

Medium

Article Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Russell, Bertrand. "No Funk, No Frivolity, No Fanaticism." New York Times, 6 May 1951, sec. SM, p. 4.

Current Citation

Russell, Bertrand. The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell. Vol. 26. Routledge, 2020, pt. 1.

Everywhere we remain unfree and chained to technology, whether we passionately affirm or deny it.

Martin Heidegger

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Topic

Downsides of technology Technology

Author

Martin Heidegger

Source

The Question Concerning Technology

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1954 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Heidegger, Martin. Vorträge und Aufsätze. Garland Publishing, 1954.

Current Citation

Heidegger, Martin. "The Question Concerning Technology." The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays. Harper Perennial, 2013.

Prosperity is not without many Feares and Distastes; and Adversity is not without Comforts and Hopes.

Francis Bacon

Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral

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Topic

Downsides of wealth

Author

Francis Bacon

Source

Of Adversity Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1625 1620s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Bacon, Francis. "Of Adversity." Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall. London: John Haviland, 1625.

Current Citation

Bacon, Francis. "Essays, or Counsels, Civil and Moral (1625): Of Adversity." Francis Bacon: The Major Works, edited by Brian Vickers. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Even women and children and those with no aptitude for speculation can attain to a complete religion, for all men are on an equal footing as far as knowledge derived from the senses is concerned. Praised be God who in his wisdom ordered things thus.

Saadia Gaon

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Topic

Equality

Author

Saadia Gaon

Genre

Religious literature

Language

Judeo-Arabic

Time

933 930s 10th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Gaon, Saadia. كتاب الأمانات والاعتقادات [The Book of Beliefs and Opinions]. c. 933, introduction.

Current Citation

Gaon, Saadia. The Book of Beliefs and Opinions. Yale University Press, 1989, introduction.

All religion, however, is nothing but the fantastic reflection in men's minds of those external forces which control their daily life.

Friedrich Engels

Anti-Duhring

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Topic

Religion

Author

Friedrich Engels

Source

Anti-Duhring

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1878 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Engels, Frederick. "Herrn Eugen Dührings Umwälzung der Wissenschaft [Herr Eugen Dühring's Revolution in Science]." Vorwärts, 1878.

Current Citation

Engels, Frederick. "Anti-During." Karl Marx, Frederick Engels: Collected Works. Vol. 25, Int Pub Co Inc, 1987, pt. 3, ch. 5.