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Humanities Section => Philosophy & Rhetoric General Discussion => Topic started by: bennyboy on February 14, 2013, 03:08:14 PM

Title: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: bennyboy on February 14, 2013, 03:08:14 PM
I'm really just trying to see if a new post in this section will reset the thread/post count correctly :)

From Nietzsche:
-A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.
-There is not enough love and goodness in the world to permit giving any of it away to imaginary beings.
-Plato was a bore.
Title: Re: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: _Xenu_ on February 14, 2013, 03:22:39 PM
"Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with. Because this is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely; they will offer you their blood, property, life and children, as is said above, when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you. And that prince who, relying entirely on their promises, has neglected other precautions, is ruined; because friendships that are obtained by payments, and not by greatness or nobility of mind, may indeed be earned, but they are not secured, and in time of need cannot be relied upon; and men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared, for love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails."

-Machiavelli, brutally honest about human nature as usual
Title: Re: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: Plu on February 14, 2013, 03:39:00 PM
That's a good quote. I remember the short version of that coming up in Total War a lot, but it is a lot more powerful this way.
Title: Re: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: _Xenu_ on February 14, 2013, 03:46:25 PM
The short version is simply that its better to be feared than loved. The original version explains why.
Title: Re: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: Icarus on February 14, 2013, 04:55:05 PM
Cogito Ergo Sum - Descartes
Title: Re: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: Thumpalumpacus on February 15, 2013, 01:37:16 AM
Quote from: "Bertrand Russell"The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.
Title: Re: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: ThoughtOfTheDay on March 01, 2013, 02:08:23 AM
"Choosing to be this or that is to affirm at the same time the value of what we choose, because we can never choose evil. We always choose the good, and nothing can be good for any of us unless it is good for all." - Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism
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Post by: Zatoichi on March 01, 2013, 05:09:51 PM
"Man is God in the making."

"The end of science is not to prove a theory, but to improve mankind."

 - Manley P Hall

Technically a scholar but I think a philosopher as well.
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Post by: aitm on March 01, 2013, 06:46:12 PM
I would suggest, with all due respect, that any philosopher, whether settled or new, does not need the quoter to be identified.
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Post by: TheDevoutPasta on March 03, 2013, 02:02:56 PM
"Religous suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and th soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call them to give up a condition that requires ilusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo."
-I think we all know who wrote this.

I came up with my own quote from reading the rest of his intro:

-"Religion is the malapropos prerequisite of societal progression."

does it work :D?
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Post by: Jmpty on March 03, 2013, 02:22:15 PM
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."--Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
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Post by: Notthesun on March 03, 2013, 04:49:56 PM
Too many to choose from!
Title: Re:
Post by: Thumpalumpacus on March 03, 2013, 05:32:36 PM
Quote from: "aitm"I would suggest, with all due respect, that any philosopher, whether settled or new, does not need the quoter to be identified.

For those of us who aren't philosophers, having the writer identified is a useful tool for learning; it guides us to dig into someone whose views might catch our eye here, so that we can do further reading on our own.

Otherwise, it's kind of like hearing a great song on the radio, but never finding out who it is performing.
Title: Re: Re:
Post by: aitm on March 03, 2013, 09:34:32 PM
Quote from: "Thumpalumpacus"
Quote from: "aitm"I would suggest, with all due respect, that any philosopher, whether settled or new, does not need the quoter to be identified.

For those of us who aren't philosophers, having the writer identified is a useful tool for learning; it guides us to dig into someone whose views might catch our eye here, so that we can do further reading on our own.

Otherwise, it's kind of like hearing a great song on the radio, but never finding out who it is performing.
dats what google is fer....google makes you schmarter.
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Post by: GurrenLagann on March 04, 2013, 12:30:14 AM
Well, I'd prefer to also include those who aren't themselves philosophers by schooling, but who at some time or other made a philosophical-y statement. :)

[See My Signature]


Quote from: "Socrates""And as for me, I know only that I know nothing" / "I have no knowledge, save for the fact of my own ignorance."

"The unexamined life is not worth living."

Quote from: "Carl Sagan"The Cosmos is also within us, we're made of Star-Stuff. We are a way for the Cosmos, to know itself.

Quote from: "Heraclitus"There is no permanence, save for change.


Quote from: "Richard Dawkins""We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could've been here in my place, but who will in fact never see the light of day, outnumber the sand grains of the Sahara. Those unborn ghosts must include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this, because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively outnumbers the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds, it is you and I, in our ordinaryness, that are here. We privileged few who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we complain at our inevitable return to that prior state, from which the vast majority, have never stirred."


"I don't think I want an absolute morality. I'd prefer one that's argued about, reasoned, improved, and based on - I almost want to say - an Intelligent Design!"


Quote from: "Epicurus"I fear not death, for while I am living, it cannot be, and when it is, I am no more. How can I fear that which cannot be, while I am?
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Post by: Zatoichi on March 04, 2013, 12:32:01 AM
(//http://www.maniacworld.com/to-do-is-to-be.jpg)
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Post by: Stuz719 on March 14, 2013, 04:44:00 PM
Quote from: "Eric Cantona"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.Thank you very much."
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Post by: Sal1981 on March 24, 2013, 09:41:33 PM
Beyond the boundary of knowledge lies faith.
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Post by: Atheon on March 25, 2013, 04:33:34 AM
Be excellent to each other. - Bill & Ted
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Post by: Sal1981 on March 25, 2013, 05:58:46 AM
"I had to suspend knowledge, in order to make room for faith."
? Immanuel Kant
Title: Re: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: Jack89 on March 25, 2013, 07:39:39 AM
"THUG LIFE - The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everyone" -- 2Pac
Title: Re: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: Validus on June 10, 2013, 06:46:57 AM
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." ~Voltaire

"Our life is shaped by our mind, we become what we think." ~Buddha [Dhammapada 1:1]

"Know thyself." ~Socrates.

"Man is a rope stretched across an abyss that leads ape to superman. What is great in man is that he is a bridge, not a goal." ~Nietzsche.

"The limit of my language is the limit of my reality." ~Wittgenstein.
Title: Re: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: Solitary on June 10, 2013, 12:12:18 PM
QuoteThere is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed.

QuoteHatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

Bill
Title: Re: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: Smartmarzipan on June 20, 2013, 12:20:02 PM
"First learn the meaning of what you say, then speak." ~ Epictetus
Title: Re:
Post by: Solitary on June 20, 2013, 12:50:35 PM
Quote from: "Zatoichi"[ Image (//http://www.maniacworld.com/to-do-is-to-be.jpg) ]


 :rollin:  :rollin:  :rollin:  Funny! Solitary
Title: Re: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: WitchSabrina on June 20, 2013, 01:37:00 PM
QuoteWhen the mind's eye rests on objects illuminated by truth and reality, it understands and comprehends them, and functions intelligently; but when it turns to the twilight world of change and decay, it can only form opinions, its vision is confused and its beliefs shifting, and it seems to lack intelligence. (Plato, 380BC)

http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Famous-Quotes.htm (http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Famous-Quotes.htm)
Title: Re: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: Saul the not so great! on August 04, 2013, 09:54:13 PM
Quote from: "Ludwig Wittgenstein"Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of our language.
I haven't read anything by him, but what I've read about him has sparked my interest; he talks about an issue near and dear to my heart: how our language confuses us.
Title: Re: Favorite Quote from a Philosopher
Post by: Cheerful Charlie on August 06, 2013, 11:15:10 PM
Quote from: "bennyboy"I'm really just trying to see if a new post in this section will reset the thread/post count correctly :)

From Nietzsche:
-A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.
-There is not enough love and goodness in the world to permit giving any of it away to imaginary beings.
-Plato was a bore.


G.E. Moore
Theology is the finding of bad reasons for things we are going to believe anyway.

Cheerful Charlie