Denis Diderot Famous Quotes
What has not been examined impartially has not been well examined. Skepticism is therefore the first step toward truth.
"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."
"Virtue is praised but hated. People run away from it, for it is ice-cold and in this world you must keep your feet warm."
"Genius is present in every age, but the men carrying it within them remain benumbed unless extraordinary events occur to heat up and melt the mass so that it flows forth."
"There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge. . . observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts reflection combines them experimentation verifies the result of that combination."
Fanaticism is just one step away from barbarism.
"We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip little by little at a truth we find bitter."
"Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things."
"A thing is not proved just because no one has ever questioned it. What has never been gone into impartially has never been properly gone into. Hence scepticism is the first step toward truth. It must be applied generally, because it is the touchstone."
Watch out for the fellow who talks about putting things in order Putting things in order always means getting other people under your control.
There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it.
Denis Diderot Quotations
Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.
Ted Williams
Travellers from afar can lie with impunity.
French Proverb
Is fuel efficiency really what we need most desperatelly I say that what we really need is a car that can be shot when it breaks down.
Russell Baker
Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.
Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire
Stop thinking in terms of limitations and start thinking in terms of possibilities.
Terry Josephson
The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.
George Eliot
Only the refusal to listen guarantees one against being ensnared by the truth.
Nozick
"We live by encouragement and die without it--slowly, sadly, angrily."
Celeste Holm
He wins every hand who mingles profit with pleasure.
Horace
Regrets are idle yet history is one long regret. Everything might have turned out so differently.
Charles Dudley Warner