Philosophy Quotes

"I am an Epicurean. I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greek and Roman leave to us"

Thomas Jefferson, President

"My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out"

Ronald Reagan, President

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery"

Winston Churchill, Statesman

"I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself than this incessant business"

Henry David Thoreau, Author

"The love of all-inclusiveness is as dangerous in philosophy as in art"

George Santayana, Philosopher

"The hunger for facile wisdom is the root of all false philosophy"

George Santayana, Philosopher

"It is possible to be a master in false philosophy, easier, in fact, than to be a master in the truth, because a false philosophy can be made as simple and consistent as one pleases"

George Santayana, Philosopher

"We do not learn by inference and deduction and the application of mathematics to philosophy, but by direct intercourse and sympathy"

Richard M. Nixon, President

"I remain convinced that obstinate addiction to ordinary language in our private thoughts is one of the main obstacles to progress in philosophy"

Bertrand Russell, Philosopher

"I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn't wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine"

Bertrand Russell, Philosopher

"To teach how to live without certainty and yet without being paralysed by hesitation is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy, in our age, can do for those who study it"

Bertrand Russell, Philosopher

"The theoretical understanding of the world, which is the aim of philosophy, is not a matter of great practical importance to animals, or to savages, or even to most civilised men"

Bertrand Russell, Philosopher

"The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it"

Bertrand Russell, Philosopher

"Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don't know"

Bertrand Russell, Philosopher

"Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance"

Bertrand Russell, Philosopher

""Freedom from fear" could be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights"

Dag Hammarskjold, Diplomat

"Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy"

Margaret Thatcher, Leader

"To have no time for philosophy is to be a true philosopher"

Blaise Pascal, Philosopher

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival"

C. S. Lewis, Author

"Ordinary people seem not to realize that those who really apply themselves in the right way to philosophy are directly and of their own accord preparing themselves for dying and death"

Socrates, Philosopher

"Kant introduced the concept of the negative into philosophy. Would it not also be worthwhile to try to introduce the concept of the positive into philosophy?"

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, Poet

"Whoever does not philosophize for the sake of philosophy, but rather uses philosophy as a means, is a sophist"

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, Poet

"Since philosophy now criticizes everything it comes across, a critique of philosophy would be nothing less than a just reprisal"

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, Poet

"Mathematics is, as it were, a sensuous logic, and relates to philosophy as do the arts, music, and plastic art to poetry"

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, Poet

"He who has religion will speak poetry. But philosophy is the tool with which to seek and discover religion"

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, Poet

"Considered subjectively, philosophy always begins in the middle, like an epic poem"

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, Poet

"About no subject is there less philosophizing than about philosophy"

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, Poet

"Christianity is not a theory or speculation, but a life; not a philosophy of life, but a life and a living process"

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Poet

"Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art"

Will Durant, Historian

"Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom"

Will Durant, Historian

"And new Philosophy calls all in doubt, the element of fire is quite put out; the Sun is lost, and the earth, and no mans wit can well direct him where to look for it"

John Donne, Poet

"Because philosophy arises from awe, a philosopher is bound in his way to be a lover of myths and poetic fables. Poets and philosophers are alike in being big with wonder"

Thomas Aquinas, Theologian

"But if it not be true, the myth itself requires to be explained, and every principle of philosophy and common sense demand that the explanation be sought, not in arbitrary allegorical categories, but in the actual facts of ritual or religious custom to which the myth attaches"

William Robertson Smith, Scientist

"It's really easy to have a nice philosophy about openness, but moving the world in that direction is a different thing. It requires both understanding where you want to go and being pragmatic about getting there"

Mark Zuckerberg, Businessman

"People who lean on logic and philosophy and rational exposition end by starving the best part of the mind"

William Butler Yeats, Poet

"The chief benefit, which results from philosophy, arises in an indirect manner, and proceeds more from its secret, insensible influence, than from its immediate application"

David Hume, Philosopher

"Be a philosopher but, amid all your philosophy be still a man"

David Hume, Philosopher

"All serious conversations gravitate towards philosophy"

Ernest Dimnet, Priest

"Religion is part of the human make-up. It's also part of our cultural and intellectual history. Religion was our first attempt at literature, the texts, our first attempt at cosmology, making sense of where we are in the universe, our first attempt at health care, believing in faith healing, our first attempt at philosophy"

Christopher Hitchens, Author

"Generally speaking, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous"

David Hume, Philosopher

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