Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderotʁo]; 5 October 1713 – 31 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent figure during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the Encyclopédie along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert...
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth5 October 1713
moral poetic plus
En ge ne ral, plus un peuple est civilise , poli, moins ses moeurs sont poe tiques; tout s'affaiblit en s'adoucissant. Ingeneral, themore civilized and refinedthepeople, the less poetic are its morals; everything weakens as it mellows.
evil encounters masters
Jacques said that his master said that everything good or evil we encounter here below was written on high.
memories literature nails
Pithy sentences are like sharp nails which force truth upon our memory.
mean numbers would-be
If exclusive privileges were not granted, and if the financial system would not tend to concentrate wealth, there would be few great fortunes and no quick wealth. When the means of growing rich is divided between a greater number of citizens, wealth will also be more evenly distributed; extreme poverty and extreme wealth would be also rare.
rich figures composition
One composition is meagre, though it has many figures; another is rich, though it has few.
men missing ungrateful
Isn't it better to have men being ungrateful than to miss a chance to do good?
men giving shame
Give, but, if possible, spare the poor man the shame of begging.
love life giving
It has been said that love robs those who have it of their wit, and gives it to those who have none.
people religion use
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.
christian holy-prophet religion
There is not a Musselman[Muslim] alive who would not imagine that he was performing an action pleasing to God and his Holy Prophet by exterminating every Christian on earth, while the Christians are scarcely more tolerant on their side.
philosophy science firsts
The first step towards philosophy is incredulity.
atheism superstitions
Superstition is more injurious to God than atheism.
evil genius world
Evil always turns up in this world through some genius or other.
freedom men order
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.