Quotes From The Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment is an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The Enlightenment included a range of ideas centered on the pursuit of happiness, the rule of reason, and advanced ideals such as liberty, progress, toleration, and separation of the church and the state
This movement was leaded by philosophers known to this day such as John Locke, René Descartes, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau or Denis Diderot. I gathered here some quotations from these philosophers as I firmly think they are still relevant to this day.
Voltaire (1694-1778):
- “It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.”
2. “Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too.”
3. “The mirror is a worthless invention. The only way to truly see yourself is in the reflection of someone else’s eyes.”
4. “Common sense is not so common.”
5. “It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”
6. “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”
7. “Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.”
8. “The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom.”
9. “Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”
10. “Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one.”
11. “Don’t think money does everything or you are going to end up doing everything for money.”
12. “It is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of the same opinion, is a monster.”
13. “The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.”
14. “May God defend me from my friends: I can defend myself from my enemies.”
Locke (1632–1704):
- “The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it.”
2. “Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.”
3. “All wealth is the product of labor.”
4. “To prejudge other men’s notions before we have looked into them is not to show their darkness but to put out our own eyes.”
5. “An excellent man, like precious metal, is in every way invariable; A villain, like the beams of a balance, is always varying, upwards and downwards.”
6. “No man’s knowledge here can go beyond his experience.”
7. “It is one thing to show a man that he is in error, and another to put him in possession of truth”
8. “Where all is but dream, reasoning and arguments are of no use, truth and knowledge nothing”
9. “A sound mind in a sound body, is a short, but full description of a happy state in this World: he that has these two, has little more to wish for; and he that wants either of them, will be little the better for anything else”
Diderot (1713–1784)
- “All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone’s feelings.”
2. “We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.”
3. “Skepticism is the first step towards truth”
4. “Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.”
5. “The most dangerous madmen are those created by religion, and … people whose aim is to disrupt society always know how to make good use of them on occasion”
Rousseau (1712–1778)
- “People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little.”
2. “Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong.”
3. “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”
4. “I may be no better, but at least I am different.”
5. “We should not teach children the sciences; but give them a taste for them.”
6. “The person who has lived the most is not the one with the most years but the one with the richest experiences.”
7. “Force does not constitute right… obedience is due only to legitimate powers.”
8. “A feeble body weakens the mind.”
9. “Reading, solitude, idleness, a soft and sedentary life, intercourse with women and young people, these are perilous paths for a young man, and these lead him constantly into danger.”
10. “Ordinary readers, forgive my paradoxes: one must make them when one reflects; and whatever you may say, I prefer being a man with paradoxes than a man with prejudices.”
Descartes (1596–1650)
- “When it is not in our power to follow what is true, we ought to follow what is most probable”
2. “I am indeed amazed when I consider how weak my mind is and how prone to error”
3. “Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.”
4. “I think; therefore I am”
5. “Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems.”
6. “The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues.”
7. “Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it.”
8. “It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.”
I hope this list made you think on it :)
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