If a [dissenting] opinion is right, [others] are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth; if it is wrong, they lose an almost equally great benefit: the clearer perception of truth, produced by its collision with error.
1859
The duration of the same sensation makes us insensitive to it in the long run; hence this inconstancy and this love of novelty common to all men [...].
1772
Men do not always agree in their judgments on the utility of an action, or of a custom...
1751
Perhaps one should abide by the author's judgment, and not needlessly increase the mass of documents [...] that he himself deemed negligible.
1896
Fragment of a limestone relief with two standing figures
4th–3rd century BCE
It is not impossible, metaphysically speaking, that there could be a dream as continuous and lasting as a man's life; but this is a thing as contrary to reason as the fiction of a book being formed by chance [...].
1704
Protagoras told us a fine tale, making man the measure of all things, who never even knew his own.
1580
When something seems impossible to obtain [...], it indicates an insurmountable limit at that level and the necessity of a change of level, of breaking through a ceiling.
1947
The bourgeoisie had a true insight into the fact that all the weapons it had forged against feudalism turned their points against itself [...].
1851/1852
Bronze handle of a hydria (water jar)
early 6th century BCE
The primary cause of all error is, ultimately, the imperfection of our memories.
1805
Morality is the proper Science and the great business of men in general, who are interested in seeking the sovereign Good [...].
1689
Matter is neither born nor dies: all birth and all death are in it. [...] It unites the inconstant flight of time and the rigorous immobility of space.
1819
If I perceive this loss of my faculties, and I become displeasing to myself, how could I still find pleasure in living?
4th century BC
Chlorite pestle
ca. 1600–1050 BCE
[He] could, in good conscience, have two wives, [...] by virtue of a dispensation from the law, which would only cost him a hundred thousand écus.
circa 1748
How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
1263-1264
A revolution in the way of life then takes place.
1776
The end of the state is not to turn men from rational beings into beasts or puppets, but to enable them to develop their minds and bodies in security, and to employ their reason unshackled.
1670
Saint Nicholas of Bari
mid-1430s
Last year, I would not have survived such a terrible blow.
1926
How has this stubborn will to serve become so deeply rooted that it now seems that the very love of liberty is not so natural.
c. 1552-1553
Do you want to [...] make happy marriages? Smother prejudices, forget human institutions, and consult Nature.
1762
My lover wants a warrior girl, you make a soldier of Agnes to please him.
c. 1730
The Two Sisters
1770
Softness had, in the course of a long peace, weakened the nation's courage, pleasures had corrupted it, [...] and adversity alone could reawaken the ancient virtue.
1746
What could compel you to believe what you do not want to believe? [...] And what danger is there for you in the errors of others?
c. 108 AD
Thus one passes, by imperceptible degrees, from the necessity lived by the body to the necessity thought by the mind.
1900
What did it serve him to have conquered an entire world, since he lost the privilege of great men, which is to know how to command oneself.
1636
Horseman
4th–3rd century BCE
It is very true that contractual relations [...] multiply as the social division of labor increases. But [...] non-contractual relations develop at the same time.
1893
It is neither offerings of gold and silver [...] that honor [virtue], it is righteousness and purity of intention.
63-64 AD
[...] man dies only as a consequence of Adam's sin; and if, by baptism, this sin is erased, how is it that Christians are still subject to death?
1766
Among the infinite number of problems that present themselves [...], to choose those whose solution is of interest to man is the merit of wisdom.
1766
Spatula or curette
7000 BCE - 330 CE
It seems to me that one should only reveal things one wishes to keep secret when compelled by necessity.
1518
[...] the air, because it is invisible, is taken for empty space; but inasmuch as it is space, we conclude that it is a body [...].
1653-1662
The conviction of certainty [...] is a sure testimony of madness and extreme uncertainty.
1674-1675
The weak rarely have confidence in the justice and reason of the strong.
1835-1840
Allegory of the Catholic Faith
ca. 1670–72
It is in the irrational part that we find what are called virtues: temperance, justice, courage, and all the other moral virtues that seem worthy of esteem and praise.
4th century BC
The best thing in this is to trust in divine providence, and to let oneself be guided by it.
1643-1649
We must not hold Fortune alone responsible for the misfortunes of men; [...] we must look for the part played in them by the disorders of the heart and of reason.
100-120 AD
The proper aim and ultimate end of true philosophy is to reign over all beings, over natural bodies, over remedies, over machines [...].
1609
George Moore (1852–1933)
1879
Sit as little as possible; do not trust any idea that was not born in the open air and of free movement.
1888
If you are disgusted with [certain] citizens, make it known: those who [...] still have the freedom of choice, will change their system, will follow another path.
59 BC
[The soul of the star] cannot therefore be harmful since its principle is an excellent nature.
c. 253-270 AD
Beneath the multiple [...] distinctions, beneath the incessant [...] transformations, [...] lies a hidden law, [...] nature.
4th century BC
Fragmentary terracotta relief of a reclining figure
late 6th–early 5th century BCE