Philosophical Quotes

It is easier to produce ten volumes of philosophical writings than to put one principle into practice.

The law is reason, free from passion.

If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.

Only that in you which is me can hear what I'm saying.

I look back now and realize that the gift of a true friend is that she sees you not the way you see yourself or the way others see you. A true friend sees you for who you are and who you can become.

You have to deeply understand the essence of a product in order to be able to get rid of the parts that are not essential.

To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.

What do I care about Jupiter? Justice is a human issue, and I do not need a god to teach it to me.

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.

Myself acquainted with misfortune, I learn to help the unfortunate.

He who steals a little steals with the same wish as he who steals much, but with less power.

We become just by performing just action, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave action.

The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons.

Football is the ballet of the masses.

If you make a deal with a fool, don't be surprised when they act foolishly.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

An absolute can only be given in an intuition, while all the rest has to do with analysis.

All of my misfortunes come from having thought too well of my fellows.

There are also two kinds of truths: truth of reasoning and truths of fact.

Pride is pleasure arising from a man's thinking too highly of himself.

Everything in the world is purchased by labor.

The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell.

It is only at the first encounter that a face makes its full impression on us.

Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things.

Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right.

When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice.

We do not say: Being is, time is, but rather: there is Being and there is time.

The endeavor to understand is the first and only basis of virtue.

The privilege of absurdity; to which no living creature is subject, but man only.

Anti-Semitism has no historical, political and certainly no philosophical origins. Anti-Semitism is a disease.

Attention to health is life greatest hindrance.

When I study philosophical works I feel I am swallowing something which I don't have in my mouth.

From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.

Frivolity is inborn, conceit acquired by education.

Who is it that can tell me who I am?

Religion is to mysticism what popularization is to science

You forget that the fruits belong to all and that the land belongs to no one.

Seeking is not always the way to find.

The most beautiful philosophical song existing in any known tongue.

What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?

Words are more treacherous and powerful than we think.

You ask a philosopher a question and after he or she has talked for a bit, you don't understand your question any more.

War is to man what motherhood is to a woman. From a philosophical and doctrinal viewpoint, I do not believe in perpetual peace.

Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your heart's desire; the other is to get it.

Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.

Imposed philosophical morality (laws/rules) will not save the world. Only a calculated tangible plan to alter our circumstances so such actions pose no merit will stop immoral behaviour.

The desire to be loved is the last illusion. Give it up and you will be free.

Having power is not nearly as important as what you choose to do with it.

True virtue is life under the direction of reason.

Boredom is just the reverse side of fascination.