Denis Diderot Quotes

Quotes about:

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

  Denis Diderot

  Forever, Trying, Facts

  85 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

  113 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.

  100 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”

  78 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.

  49 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

• 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.

  61 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.

  51 Copy quote

• Ignorance is less remote from the truth than prejudice.

  Denis Diderot

  Ignorance, Prejudice

  10 Copy quote

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

  Denis Diderot

  Philosophy, Firsts, Steps

  70 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

• Superstition is more injurious to God than atheism.

  Denis Diderot

  Atheism, Superstitions, Positive Atheism

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

  12 Copy quote

• 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.

  Denis Diderot

  People, Religion, Atheism

  "Conversations with a Christian Lady". "Selected Writings", edited by Lester G. Crocker, 1966.

  23 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.

  13 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

  22 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.

  60 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”

  30 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

  39 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

• There are things I can't force. I must adjust. There are times when the greatest change needed is a change of my viewpoint.

  Denis Diderot

  Acceptance, Perspective, Viewpoints

  "Cracking the Code of Our Physical Universe : The Key to a Whole New World of Enlightenment and Enrichment". Book by Matthew M Radmanesh, 2006.

  32 Copy quote

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

  Denis Diderot

  Children, Men, Entertainment

  60 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.

  13 Copy quote

• The bad gives rise to the good, the good inspires the better, the better produces the excellent, the excellent is followed by the bizarre

  Denis Diderot

  Giving, Inspire, Excellent

  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

• No man has received from nature the right to give orders to others. Freedom is a gift from heaven, and every individual of the same species has the right to enjoy it as soon as he is in enjoyment of his reason.

  Denis Diderot

  Freedom, Men, Order

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

  18 Copy quote

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