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
wise years forever
You live as if you were destined to live forever, no thought of your frailty ever enters your head, of how much time has already gone by you take no heed. You squander time as if you drew from a full and abundant supply, so all the while that day which you bestow on some person or thing is perhaps your last. You have all the fears of mortals and all the desires of immortals… What foolish forgetfulness of mortality to defer wise resolutions to the fiftieth or sixtieth year, and to intend to begin life at a point to which few have attained.
funny wise honesty
I discuss with myself questions of politics, love, taste, or philosophy. I let my mind rove wantonly, give it free rein to followany idea, wise or mad that may present itself.... My ideas are my harlots.
best doctor run
The best doctor is the one you run for and can't find
duty speak
To do his duty somehow, always to speak well of the Prior, and let the world go its own way.
earth schools temples theology
See this egg. It is with this that all the schools of theology and all the temples of the earth are to be overturned.
force quotes sentences sharp truth
Sentences are like sharp nails, which force truth upon our memories.
generally sketch spirited
A sketch is generally more spirited than a picture,
capable claims conclusion draw matter order organized prefer takes therefore wants
Descartes said: "I think, therefore I am." Helvetius wants to say: "I feel, therefore I want to feel pleasantly." I prefer Hobbes who claims that in order to draw a conclusion which takes us somewhere, we must say, "I feel, I think, I judge; therefore, a part of organized matter like me is capable of feeling, thinking, and judging.
art business chief close move touch
it is the chief business of art to touch and to move and to do this by getting close to 'nature.'
bitter drink drop lie swallow truth women
Women swallow at one mouthful the lie that flatters, and drink drop by drop the truth that is bitter
people lovers sexuality
The best mannered people make the most absurd lovers.
acquiring available collects creative geniuses knowledge means nature principal rarely reflection result three
There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge available to us: observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination. Our observation of nature must be diligent, our reflection profound, and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined; and for this reason, creative geniuses are not common.
beautiful stupid crazy
The wisest among us is very lucky never to have met the woman, be she beautiful or ugly, intelligent or stupid, who could drive him crazy enough to be fit to be put into an asylum.
running law long
The decisions of law courts should never be printed: in the long run, they form a counter authority to the law.