Adam Weishaupt
Adam Weishaupt
Johann Adam Weishaupt was a German philosopher and founder of the Order of the Illuminati, a secret society...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth6 February 1748
CityIngolstadt, Germany
CountryGermany
education men illumination
It was the full conviction of this, and of what could be done, if every man were placed in the office for which he was fitted by nature and a proper education, which first suggested to me the plan of Illumination.
mean illumination clouds
This is the great object held out by this association; and the means of attaining it is illumination, enlightening the understanding by the sun of reason which will dispell the clouds of superstition and of prejudice.
happiness mean illumination
And of all illumination which human reason can give, none is comparable to the discovery of what we are, our nature, our obligations, what happiness we are capable of, and what are the means of attaining it.
therefore
The first task of the association must therefore be to form the young members.
history
Nothing would be more profitable to us than a right history of mankind.
Morality will perform all this; and Morality is the fruit of Illumination.
government greater opposed placed situations suited
But I would have executed much greater things, had not government always opposed my exertions, and placed others in situations which would have suited my talents.
religious political prejudice
But alas, they are all sadly deficient, because they leave us under the domination of political and religious prejudices; and they are as inefficient as the sleepy dose of an ordinary sermon.
opposition
Illuminate the opposition.
order should-have situation
In another situation, and in an active station in life, I should have been keenly occupied, and the founding of an order would have never come into my head.
zest order giving
For the Order wishes to be secret and to work in silence; for thus it is better secured from the oppression of the ruling powers, and because this secrecy gives a greater zest to the whole.
jealous purpose noble
Let this circumstance of our constitution therefore be directed to this noble purpose, and then all the objections urged against it by jealous tyranny and affrighted superstition will vanish.
law lord reason
The head of every family will be what Abraham was, the patriarch, the priest and the unlettered lord of his family, and Reason will be the code of laws to all mankind.
strong lying men
Salvation does not lie where strong thrones are defended by swords, where the smoke of censers ascend to heaven or where thousands of strong men pace the rich fields of harvest. The revolution which is about to break will be sterile if it is not complete.