Philosophy quotes come in a variety of different formats; one of which books containing a large number of them. Another way is to search for them online and read through. Some websites also have free Philosophy Quotes. You can often use the internet to find out more about Philosophy and its related subjects. If you are a fan of Philosophy then it might be worth reading some of these quotations.
Zen Proverbs “If you want to have true happiness, forget to live.” This Zen Proverb states that we should not aim to create happiness for others but rather should aim to create happiness for ourselves. The phrase is related to the Japanese saying that “kami” (lords) are those who cannot be found.
Richard W. Bach “To believe is to learn; and to learn is to accept defeat.” These are two of the most well known philosophical quotes. They both express the fundamental belief in the field of philosophy – that knowledge is good and that to learn something is to accept defeat if one must not do so. To state this in a different way, it is a fact that to fully understand something is to accept defeat if one must not do this.
Karl Menninger “When I fell ill, a doctor advised me to ask myself, ‘What would be my happiness, if I were dead?’ I related the answer to what Aristotle, Plato, Aristotle and other philosophers have said: ‘appiness is when we do what we really want, rather than what someone else wants for us.” According to Menninger, it is good to follow your heart and so, he said, it is better to die at thirty than at seventy. However, as Aristotle argued, it is better to live at forty than to live at seventy.
Nietzsche “If philosophy can only be used to persuade others it is nothing. If philosophy can only be used to convince ourselves that we are right, it is nothing. If philosophy can be nothing other than an aid, it is even worse than useless. If you are philosophical, follow my example, and if you are not philosophical, then follow mine.”
Theodorodor J. A. van den Brande “Philosophy is nothing more than a system of rules developed by people so that they may know themselves, another, and humanity.” According to van den Brande, these are some of his most profound philosophical quotes. According to him, true philosophy is nothing but self-discipline. Moreover, he wrote that those who are content with principles and do not take advantage of their practical applications, are really no better than persons who think they know everything but do not know anything at all.
Confucius “A wise man studies the causes of his happiness. He does not depend on any external agency for his happiness. The Ancient Greeks and the Orientals say that the study of ethics is the beginning of wisdom. According to them, the wise man studies the causes of his happiness first, and after that the causes of the happiness of others.”
Philosopher Karl Menninger “There’s nothing certain in this world except death and taxes.” According to this famous philosopher, a true philosopher should first make peace with himself and then attempt to become a better man. He believed that all philosophers should aim at becoming greater individuals, as epitomized by Clausewitz, who said, “A general will have to plan and prepare for war, but must not expect to have it always with him.” After reading his work, I certainly learned a lot about Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates.
No discussion of famous philosophers can be complete without mention of Jean-Solphan dialectic. It is best described as a way of thinking through dialogue. It is a means by which different philosophers discuss a single issue, drawing upon numerous other philosophies along the way to support their arguments. When you read “la valeur est una delectable” by Rousseau, you learn how to appreciate the beauty of everyday life despite its ugliest aspects. A favorite quote of mine from this dialectic is “I cannot help being what I am; I only imitate,” which expresses a common enough theme among these famous philosophers.
Another famous essay by Christopher Marlowe “Romeo and Juliet”, also discusses human ambitions, pleasures, pains, and sorrows. The Essay contains many philosophical discussions, some of which are clearly based on earlier works by these authors. The discussion of Descartes’ “I must blush for having been so loved” is also present. Marlowe’s major point in this essay is that we must think with courage, just as we must sorrow for the loss of a beloved one. Juliet says “Nay, had not your heart was torn o’ the pangs of passion, I had not written so lovely a piece.”
In the last paragraph of his Essay on Criticism and Essays on Man, Jean-Manuel Gilmain has his famous “How I became a Man”. He starts out by admitting that he is not a perfect man, and that all men are, in some sense, imperfect. Then he goes on to outline his gradual development from boy to man, comparing the spiritual quest of man with that of the Biblical character, Adam in the garden of Eden. The book of Gilmain can serve as a model for those who wish to “become a man”.
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
― Albert Einstein
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“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
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“Without music, life would be a mistake.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols
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“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”
― Elie Wiesel
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“Go to heaven for the climate and hell for the company.”
― Benjamin Franklin Wade
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“A day without laughter is a day wasted.”
― Nicolas Chamfort
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“Have you ever noticed how ‘What the hell’ is always the right decision to make?”
― Terry Johnson, Insignificance
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“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
― Anne Frank, Anne Frank’s Tales from the Secret Annex: A Collection of Her Short Stories, Fables, and Lesser-Known Writings
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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
― Margaret Mead
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“You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts.”
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
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“May you live every day of your life.”
― Jonathan Swift
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“Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.”
― Albert Camus
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May Sarton
“We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.”
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“One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don’t throw it away.”
― Stephen Hawking
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“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”
― Laurence J. Peter
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“It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
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“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
― William Shakespear, Hamlet
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“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.”
― Isaac Asimov, Foundation
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“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
― Albert Einstein
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“You do not write your life with words…You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.”
― Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls
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“Simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
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“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”
― Benjamin Spock
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“Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.”
― Frank Zappa
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“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”
― Dr. Seuss
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“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
― Elie Wiesel
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“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.”
― Bertrand Russell
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“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”
― J.R.R. Tolkien
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“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.”
― Albert Einstein, The World As I See It
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“A woman has to live her life, or live to repent not having lived it.”
― D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover
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“We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.”
― Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion