Favorite Quote from a Philosopher

[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.

[_Xenu_]

"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

[Plu]

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.

[_Xenu_]

The short version is simply that its better to be feared than loved. The original version explains why.

[Icarus]

Cogito Ergo Sum - Descartes

[Thumpalumpacus]

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.

[ThoughtOfTheDay]

"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

[Zatoichi]

"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.

[aitm]

I would suggest, with all due respect, that any philosopher, whether settled or new, does not need the quoter to be identified.

[TheDevoutPasta]

"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?

[Jmpty]

"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

[Notthesun]

Too many to choose from!

[Thumpalumpacus]

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.

[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.

[GurrenLagann]

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]

"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."

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

There is no permanence, save for change.

"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!"

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?