Philosopher Quotes

• To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity and trust.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Love, Life, Trust

  Henry David Thoreau (1995). “Walden, Or, Life in the Woods”, p.9, Courier Corporation

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• The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways: the point, however, is to change it.

  Karl Marx

  Change, Courage, Peace

  Theses on Feuerbach no. 11 (written 1845). This is the epitaph on Marx's tombstone in Highgate Cemetery, London.

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• Because philosophy arises from awe, a philosopher is bound in his way to be a lover of myths and poetic fables. Poets and philosophers are alike in being big with wonder.

  Thomas Aquinas

  Love, Fear, Philosophy

  Saint Thomas (Aquinas) (1971). “Saint Thomas Aquinas”

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• If you chase two rabbits,
  you catch none.

  Confucius

  Inspirational, Wisdom, Editors

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  If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools.

  Plato

  Government, Political, Politics

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• A philosopher once asked, "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" Pointless, really..."Do the stars gaze back?" Now that's a question.

  Neil Gaiman

  Stars, Stardust, Star Gazing

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• You are what you choose to be today. Not what you've chosen to be before.

  Wayne Dyer

  Inspirational, Spiritual, Being Yourself

  Wayne W. Dyer (2009). “Staying on the Path: Easyread Super Large 24pt Edition”, p.111, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• Conquering others requires force. Conquering oneself requires strength

  Laozi

  Motivational, Strength, Wisdom

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• Life is too short to be wasted in finding answers. Enjoy the questions.

  Paulo Coelho

  Inspirational, Life, Wisdom

  FaceBook post by Paulo Coelho from Apr 25, 2012

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  All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

  Galileo Galilei

  Inspirational, Truth, Science

  "Angels in the workplace: stories and inspirations for creating a new world of work". Book by Melissa Giovagnoli, 1999.

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• An inventor is a man who asks 'Why?' of the universe and lets nothing stand between the answer and his mind.

  Ayn Rand

  Philosophy, Men, Political

  Ayn Rand (1963). “For the New Intellectual: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand (50th Anniversary Edition)”, p.133, Penguin

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• We have more ability than will power, and it is often an excuse to ourselves that we imagine that things are impossible.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  New Year, Philosophy, Failure

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• One trait in the philosopher's character we can assume is his love of the knowledge that reveals eternal reality, the realm unaffected by change and decay. He is in love with the whole of that reality, and will not willingly be deprived even of the most insignificant fragment of it - just like the lovers and men of ambition we described earlier on.

  Plato

  Ambition, Character, Reality

  Plato, Henry Desmond Pritchard Lee (1987). “The Republic”

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• All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Insanity, Delusional, Thrive

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• Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

  Voltaire

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Christmas

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  Don't give to anyone the power to put you down. Haters are losers pretending to be winners.

  Paulo Coelho

  Inspirational, Hater, Wisdom

  FaceBook post by Paulo Coelho from Oct 04, 2011

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• Your philosophy determines whether you will go for the disciplines or continue the errors.

  Jim Rohn

  Inspirational, Philosophy, Greatness

  FaceBook post by Jim Rohn from Mar 17, 2017

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• Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not.

  Epicurus

  Being Happy, Thankful, Hope

  Epicurus (1964). “Letters: Principles Doctrines, and Vatican Sayings Translated, with an Introd. and Notes, by Russel M. Geor. Indianapolis Merrill”

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• But as a philosopher said, one day after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, after all the scientific and technological achievements, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And then, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.

  Sargent Shriver

  God, Men, Fire

  "Transcript of Shriver's Acceptance Speech". www.nytimes.com. August 09, 1972.

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• The greatest wealth is to live content with little.

  Plato

  Being Happy, Plato, Greatest Wealth

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• Wonder is the feeling of the philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.

  Plato

  Inspirational, Philosophy, Feelings

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• The unexamined life is not worth living.

  Socrates

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  In Plato 'Apology' 38a

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• It is the courage to make a clean breast of it in the face of every question that makes the philosopher. He must be like Sophocles' Oedipus, who, seeking enlightenment concerning his terrible fate, pursues his indefatigable inquiry even though he divines that appalling horror awaits him in the answer. But most of us carry with us the Jocasta in our hearts, who begs Oedipus, for God's sake, not to inquire further.

  Arthur Schopenhauer

  Philosophy, Heart, Fate

  Letter to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, November 1819.

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• According to the saying of an ancient philosopher, one should eat to live, and not live to eat

  Moliere

  Philosophy, Ancient, Should

  L'Avare act 3, sc. 1 (1669)

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• There will be no end to the troubles of states,Or of humanity itself,Till philosophers become kings in this world,Or till those we now call kings and rulers really And truly become philosophers

  Plato

  Kings, Philosophical, Humanity

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