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Famous Philosophical Quotes
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The unexamined life is not worth living.
Socrates, discussing the value of self-knowledge and reflection.
I think, therefore I am.
René Descartes, presenting his fundamental philosophical principle as a starting point for his theory of knowledge.
Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.
Jean-Paul Sartre, expressing existentialist views on human freedom and responsibility.
God is dead! He remains dead! And we have killed him!
Friedrich Nietzsche, discussing the decline of religious belief and the rise of secular thought.
One cannot step twice in the same river.
Heraclitus, reflecting on the nature of change.
The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation.
Jeremy Bentham, describing the principle of utilitarianism.
Liberty consists in doing what one desires.
John Stuart Mill, discussing the concept of individual liberty.
The only thing I know is that I know nothing.
Socrates, expressing the Socratic paradox and the wisdom of knowing the limits of one's knowledge.
Happiness is the highest good.
Aristotle, summarizing the goal of life as viewed in his ethical theory.
You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.
Plato, emphasizing the importance of play in understanding human nature.
The life of man [is] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
Thomas Hobbes, on the nature of human life in the absence of social structures and law.
To be is to be perceived.
George Berkeley, discussing his views on immaterialism and the existence of objects.
Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.
William of Ockham, stating his famous principle known as Occam's Razor.
Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, critiquing social and political inequality.
All that is real is rational, and all that is rational is real.
G.W.F. Hegel, discussing his philosophy of absolute idealism.
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.
Ludwig Wittgenstein, regarding the connection between language and reality in his early philosophy.
Man is by nature a political animal.
Aristotle, asserting the inherent social and political nature of human beings.
Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.
Immanuel Kant, formulating the categorical imperative of his deontological ethics.
The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.
Confucius, reflecting the importance of inner virtues in creating societal harmony.
That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Friedrich Nietzsche, suggesting the growth and strengthening of character through suffering.
It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment.
Carl Friedrich Gauss, emphasizing the pleasure found in the process of scientific discovery.
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.
Voltaire, highlighting the societal and moral need for a belief in God.
The greatest wealth is to live content with little.
Plato, suggesting the moral and spiritual benefits of a simple life.
In everything, there is a share of everything.
Anaxagoras, expressing his philosophy of everything being interconnected and containing a part of everything else.
At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.
Plato, celebrating the transformative power of love.
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
Socrates, acknowledging the wisdom in recognizing one's own ignorance.
Even while they teach, men learn.
Seneca the Younger, stating the reciprocal nature of teaching and learning.
Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness.
Immanuel Kant, distinguishing moral virtue from the pursuit of happiness.
Leisure is the mother of philosophy.
Thomas Hobbes, on the necessity of free time for contemplation and philosophy.
He who thinks great thoughts, often makes great errors.
Martin Heidegger, acknowledging the risk of error in profound thinking.
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