Denis Diderot Quotes

Quotes about:

• Those who fear the facts will forever try to discredit the fact-finders.

  Denis Diderot

  Forever, Trying, Facts

  81 Copy quote

• Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.

  Denis Diderot

  Atheist, Kings, Men

  108 Copy quote

• We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.

  Denis Diderot

  Inspirational, Trust, Truth

  "Rameau's Nephew". Book by Denis Diderot, 1821.

  97 Copy quote

• All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone's feelings.

  Denis Diderot

  Feelings, Exception, All Things

  Stephen J. Gendzier, Denis Diderot (1967). “Denis Diderot's The Encyclopedia: selections ; edited and translated by Stephen J. Genzier”

  76 Copy quote

• Happiest are the people who give most happiness to others.

  Denis Diderot

  People, Giving, Philanthropy

  "Happyology". Book by Harald Tietze, p. 28, 2001.

  46 Copy quote

• From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step.

  Denis Diderot

  Peace, War, Tyrants

  "Essai sur le Mérite de la Vertu". A translation and adaptation of "Inquiry concerning Virtue or Merit" by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, 1745.

  58 Copy quote

• Watch out for the fellow who talks about putting things in order! Putting things in order always means getting other people under your control.

  Denis Diderot

  Mean, Power, Order

  "Supplement to Bougainville's Voyage". Book by Denis Diderot, 1796.

  34 Copy quote

• Superstition is more injurious to God than atheism.

  Denis Diderot

  Atheism, Superstitions, Positive Atheism

  "Philosophical Thoughts". Book by Denis Diderot, 1746.

  10 Copy quote

• No man has received from nature the right to command his fellow human beings.

  Denis Diderot

  Men, Command, Humans

  "L'Encyclopédie". Book by Denis Diderot, 1751-1766.

  48 Copy quote

• Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.

  Denis Diderot

  Inspirational, Happiness, Romantic

  "Pensées Philosophiques". Book by Denis Diderot, 1746.

  74 Copy quote

• What a fine comedy this world would be if one did not play a part in it.

  Denis Diderot

  Play, Would Be, World

  17 Copy quote

• We are far more liable to catch the vices than the virtues of our associates.

  Denis Diderot

  Inspirational, Vices, Virtue

  "Thesaurus of Epigrams: A New Classified Collection of Witty Remarks, Bon Mots and Toasts". Book by Edmund Fuller, 1942.

  11 Copy quote

• Skepticism is the first step on the road to philosophy.

  Denis Diderot

  Philosophy, Firsts, Steps

  67 Copy quote

• In any country where talent and virtue produce no advancement, money will be the national god. Its inhabitants will either have to possess money or make others believe that they do. Wealth will be the highest virtue, poverty the greatest vice.

  Denis Diderot

  Country, Believe, Vices

  "Selected Writings". Book by Lester G. Crocker, 1966.

  11 Copy quote

• The Christian religion teaches us to imitate a God that is cruel, insidious, jealous, and implacable in his wrath.

  Denis Diderot

  God, Christian, Religious

  22 Copy quote

• There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge... observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.

  Denis Diderot

  Knowledge, Mean, Reflection

  Denis Diderot (1966). “Selected Writings”, New York : Macmillan

  35 Copy quote

• The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers.

  Denis Diderot

  Spiritual, Atheist, Science

  "Observations on the Drawing Up of Laws". A letter to Catherine the Great, 1774.

  56 Copy quote

• In general, children, like men, and men, like children, prefer entertainment to education.

  Denis Diderot

  Children, Men, Entertainment

  58 Copy quote

• Ignorance is less remote from the truth than prejudice.

  Denis Diderot

  Ignorance, Prejudice

  7 Copy quote

• There is no true sovereign except the nation; there can be no true legislator except the people.

  Denis Diderot

  War, People, Sovereign

  Denis Diderot, John Hope Mason, Robert Wokler (1992). “Diderot: Political Writings”, p.81, Cambridge University Press

  12 Copy quote

• Poetry must have something in it that is barbaric, vast and wild.

  Denis Diderot

  Poetry, Poetry Is, Barbaric

  Denis Diderot (1966). “Selected Writings”, New York : Macmillan

  19 Copy quote

• A nation which thinks that it is belief in God and not good law which makes people honest does not seem to me very advanced.

  Denis Diderot

  Thinking, Law, People

  32 Copy quote

• Instinct guides the animal better than the man. In the animal it is pure, in man it is led astray by his reason and intelligence.

  Denis Diderot

  Animal, Men, Reason

  John Hope Mason, Denis Diderot (1982). “The irresistible Diderot”

  28 Copy quote

• Doctors are always working to preserve our health and cooks to destroy it, but the latter are the more often successful.

  Denis Diderot

  Health, Successful, Doctors

  56 Copy quote

• Scepticism is the first step toward truth.

  Denis Diderot

  Philosophy, Science, Steps

  "The Anchor Book of French Quotations with English Translations". Book by Norbert Gutermam, 1963.

  7 Copy quote

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