My reason operates much more freely when things go my way.
1580
An injury done to a member of a political body engages the whole body to demand reparation.
1690
This entire universe is empty of purpose. The soul which, because it is torn by misfortune, continually cries out for this purpose, touches this void.
1951
Liberty, as a principle, has no application to any state of things anterior to the time when mankind have become capable of being improved by free and equal discussion.
1859
The Proposal
1872
Objects have no value in themselves; they are worth only the price that our soul attaches to them.
1742
Cities cannot be held as equal. The right of each, like its power, must be measured by its greatness.
1677
Let us welcome [old age] and love it: it is full of sweetness for those who know how to use it.
63-64 AD
The empire of Neptune has seen fewer shipwrecks than the Permessus of Apollo.
1718-1778
A Man and a Woman on Horseback
ca. 1653–54
To eat this food and drink this beverage is, therefore, to abide in Jesus Christ, and to have Jesus Christ abiding in oneself.
1263-1264
A reason which alone would suffice to destroy this opinion [...], is that it is impossible to be made conscious of such judgments.
1746
Complete mysticism would be action, creation, love.
1932
Although one is never in a perfect indifference of equilibrium [...] there is always a prevailing inclination, [but] it never renders the resolution absolutely necessary.
1710
Bronze handle
late 5th century BCE
The beginning is the most important part of the work.
c. 375 BC
Above all these gods reigns the God par excellence, the absolute Good, principle of all that is divine, source of the divinity of the other gods.
c. 253-270 AD
We have tried to rebuild it, without claiming to explain it absolutely.
c. 1552-1553
It is in the nature of democracy to forget quickly: men change, traditions are lost; we must constantly restart studies and experiments already made.
1864-1866
Limestone head of a beardless male votary
1st century BCE
In civilized man, egoism enters into the very heart of higher representations: each of us has our own opinions, our beliefs, our own aspirations, and holds to them.
1893
One must continually make new efforts to acquire this continual newness of spirit.
1656-1657
'My father gives me nothing.' [...] Is there anything else to it? No. Why add from the outside that this is an evil?
c. 108 AD
What makes the tragedy of my current destiny is that my boldest undertakings must serve to make me a living.
1896
Bronze statuette of a youth
4th–3rd century BCE
Sit as little as possible; do not trust any idea that was not born in the open air and of free movement.
1888
It is the mark of a wise man to anticipate these declines [...] without waiting for his turn to experience them abruptly.
1636
More docile to opinion than to reason, [...] men indifferently accept [...] all the true or false ideas presented to them.
1758
From the very first steps, the man who wants to ascertain revelation [...] is thrown into distrust and perplexity.
1766
Bronze pendant in the form of a paired couple
8th century BCE
The mood to write verses comes from a strong agitation of the spirits [...] which only disposes one to poetry. [...] I take this transport as a mark of a stronger and more elevated mind than the common.
1643-1649
It is a matter [...] of establishing degrees of certainty, of supporting the senses [...], but rejecting almost all the product of the first operations of the mind that immediately follow sensations.
1620
Had I not sworn that, the day I saw it, I would immediately do whatever you asked of me, whether it be wisdom or folly?
1926
Truthfulness in statements that one cannot avoid is the formal duty of man towards everyone, whatever the serious disadvantage that may result from it [...].
1797
Edward Smith Stanley (1752–1834), Twelfth Earl of Derby, Elizabeth, Countess of Derby (Lady Elizabeth Hamilton, 1753–1797), and Their Son (Edward Smith Stanley, 1775–1851)
ca. 1776
An old proverb says that it is easier to make a buffoon rich than to make him a gentleman.
81 BC
I persist in thinking that man's thought consists only in feeling sensations, memories, judgments, and desires.
1801
He who has not gotten to the bottom of things, however ancient he may be, is not in my eyes an authority [...].
4th century BC
The structure of these poems is as perfect as possible, and they are the imitation of a single action.
c. 335 BC
The Opium Smokers
1872
I felt I was made for retreat and the countryside; it was impossible for me to live happily elsewhere.
1782-1789
The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.
1851/1852
The mighty genius which had attended him during his life, followed him after his death as a relentless avenger, pursuing his murderers over land and sea [...].
100-120 AD
There is only one thing that does not disappear [...], it is the concept. It is in it [...] that all the knowledge of experience must be deposited, and it alone is capable of guiding us in life.
1819
Portrait head of philosopher ?
4th century BCE
I pity this man for tearing down those whose advice might have taught him to make better use of his talent.
1741-1784
The principal cause of our errors is that our judgments extend to more things than the clear view of our mind.
1674-1675
Those who, to preserve themselves for the fatherland, temporarily moved away from it [...] were less mistaken than those who, unable to serve it, exposed themselves to the danger of leaving it forever.
1527
Hurt by the too manifest contradictions of our opinions, I sought through so many errors the abandoned paths of the true.
1746
Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Angels
1460