Philosophy has been called the knowledge of our knowledge; it might more truly be called the knowledge of our ignorance, or in the language of Kant, the knowledge of the limits of our knowledge.
—Max Muller (1823–1900) German-Born British Philologist, Orientalist
The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers.
—Denis Diderot (1713–84) French Philosopher, Writer
My definition of a philosopher is of a man up in a balloon, with his family and friends holding the ropes which confine him to earth and trying to haul him down
—Louisa May Alcott (1832–88) American Novelist
There’s a difference between a philosophy and a bumper sticker.
—Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000) American Cartoonist, Writer, Artist
The courage of the truth is the first condition of philosophic study.
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) German Philosopher
As an example of just how useless these philosophers are for any practice in life there is Socrates himself, the one and only wise man, according to the Delphic Oracle. Whenever he tried to do anything in public he had to break off amid general laughter. While he was philosophizing about clouds and ideas, measuring a flea’s foot and marveling at a midge’s humming, he learned nothing about the affairs of ordinary life.
—Desiderius Erasmus (c.1469–1536) Dutch Humanist, Scholar
One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people’s minds
—Frank Zappa (1940–93) American Rock Guitarist, Singer, Composer
Leisure is the mother of philosophy.
—Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) English Political Philosopher
My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate — that’s my philosophy.
—Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) American Novelist, Playwright
The usual picture of Socrates is of an ugly little plebeian who inspired a handsome young nobleman to write long dialogues on large topics.
—Richard Rorty (1931–2007) American Philosopher
The only secure knowledge is that I exist
—Rene Descartes (1596–1650) French Mathematician, Philosopher
What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe upon instinct; but to find these reasons is no less an instinct.
—F. H. Bradley (1846–1924 ) British Idealist Philosopher
Make philosophy thy journey, theology thy journey’s end: philosophy is a pleasant way, but dangerous to him that either tires or retires; in this journey it is safe neither to loiter nor to rest, till thou hast attained thy journey’s end; he that sits down a philosopher rises up an atheist.
—Francis Quarles (1592–1644) English Religious Poet
Apart from the known and the unknown, what else is there?
—Harold Pinter (1930–2008) British Playwright
Philosophy, rightly defined, is simply the love of wisdom.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Art requires philosophy, just as philosophy requires art. Otherwise, what would become of beauty?
—Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) French Post-Impressionist Painter
Really, the fundamental, ultimate mystery — the only thing you need to know to understand the deepest metaphysical secrets — is this: that for every outside there is an inside and for every inside there is an outside, and although they are different, they go together.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British-American Philosopher, Author
Two half philosophers will probably never a whole metaphysician make.
—Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962) French Philosopher, Psychoanalyst, Poet
In philosophy if you aren’t moving at a snail’s pace you aren’t moving at all.
—Iris Murdoch (1919–99) British Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
To believe only possibilities is not faith, but mere philosophy.
—Thomas Browne (1605–82) English Author, Physician
The discovery of what is true and the practice of that which is good, are the two most important aims of philosophy.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.
—The 14th Dalai Lama (b.1935) Tibetan Buddhist Religious Leader, Civil Rights Leader, Philosopher, Author
My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.
—Stephen Hawking (1942–2018) English Theoretical Physicist, Cosmologist, Academic
Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
Metaphysics is a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse, strewn with many a philosophic wreck.
—Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) Prussian German Philosopher, Logician
You can’t do without philosophy, since everything has its hidden meaning which we must know.
—Maxim Gorky (1868–1936) Russian Writer, Dramatist, Political Activist, Novelist
The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.
—Karl Marx (1818–1883) German Philosopher, Economist
Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best, the wonder remains
—Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) English Mathematician, Philosopher
In wonder all philosophy began; in wonder it ends; and admiration fills up the interspace. — But the first is the wonder of ignorance; the last is the parent of adoration.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.
—John Muir (1838–1914) Scottish-born American Naturalist
Philosophy! Empty thinking by ignorant conceited men who think they can digest without eating!
—Iris Murdoch (1919–99) British Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
One cannot conceive anything so strange and so implausible that it has not already been said by one philosopher or another.
—Rene Descartes (1596–1650) French Mathematician, Philosopher
Philosophers say a great deal about what is absolutely necessary for science, and it is always, so far as one can see, rather naive, and probably wrong.
—Richard Feynman (1918–88) American Physicist
True philosophy is that which makes us to ourselves and to all about us, better; and at the same time, more content, patient, calm, and more ready for all decent and pure enjoyment.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
A fool’s brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
Get married, in any case. If you happen to get a good mate, you will be happy; if a bad one, you will become philosophical, which is a fine thing in itself.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes.
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) Austrian-born British Philosopher
One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
To be a husbandman, is but a retreat from the city; to be a philosopher, from the world; or rather a retreat from the world as it is man’s, into the world as it is God’s.
—Abraham Cowley (1618–67) English Poet, Essayist
In the information age, you don’t teach philosophy as they did after feudalism. You perform it. If Aristotle were alive today, he’d have a talk show.
—Timothy Leary (1920–96) American Psychologist, Author
Many talk like philosophers yet live like fools.
—Common Proverb
We can only reason from what is; we can reason on actualities, but not on possibilities.
—Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (1678–1751) English Politician, Philosopher
A writer must always try to have a philosophy and he should also have a psychology and a philology and many other things. Without a philosophy and a psychology and all these various other things he is not really worthy of being called a writer. I agree with Kant and Schopenhauer and Plato and Spinoza and that is quite enough to be called a philosophy. But then of course a philosophy is not the same thing as a style.
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American Writer
Philosophy can add to our happiness in no other manner but by diminishing our misery; it should not pretend to increase our present stock, but make us economists of what we are possessed of. Happy were we all born philosophers; all born with a talent of thus dissipating our own cares by spreading them upon all mankind.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of established religion.
—Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) Dutch Philosopher, Theologian