Quotes
Famous philosophical quotes, each linked to the exact primary-source passage.
Quotations are shown in the page language. When the included edition is in another language, that edition's text appears underneath.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
— Plato, ApologyEnglish
“The superior man bends his attention to what is radical. That being established, all practical courses naturally grow up.”
— Confucius, The Analects of Confucius (from the Chinese Classics)English
“The condition of mere nature... is a condition of war of every man against every man.”
— Thomas Hobbes, The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 03 (of 11)English
“The life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
— Thomas Hobbes, The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 03 (of 11)English
“Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.”
— David Hume, A Treatise of Human NatureEnglish
“Act only on that maxim whereby thou canst at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”
— Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of MoralsEnglish
“Sapere aude! Dare to know! Have courage to use your own understanding!”
Text from the included edition · German
“Sapere aude! Habe Mut, dich deines eigenen Verstandes zu bedienen! — "Dare to know! Have courage to use your own understanding!"”
— Kant, Beantwortung der Frage Was ist Aufklärung
“Faith in God is dead.”
— Nietzsche, The Will to PowerEnglish
“That which does not kill him makes him stronger.”
— Nietzsche, Ecce HomoEnglish
“The will to power is the primitive motive force out of which all other motives have been derived.”
— Nietzsche, The Will to PowerEnglish
“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.”
— John Stuart Mill, On LibertyEnglish
“Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee.”
— Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineEnglish
“Man is naturally a political animal.”
— Aristotle, Politics A Treatise on GovernmentEnglish
“Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things.”
— Epictetus, A Selection from the Discourses of Epictetus with the EncheiridionEnglish
“I think, therefore I am.”
Text from the included edition · French
“Je pense, donc je suis — "I think, therefore I am."”
— Descartes, Discours de la méthode
“The eternal and infinite Being, which we call God or Nature, acts by the same necessity as that whereby it exists.”
— Spinoza, Ethics — Part 4English
“The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one.”
— Locke, Second Treatise of GovernmentEnglish
“Because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved.”
— Machiavelli, The PrinceEnglish
“All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.”
— Spinoza, EthicsEnglish
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts.”
— Dhammapada, The DhammapadaEnglish
“Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule.”
— Dhammapada, The DhammapadaEnglish
“The best revenge is not to copy him that wronged you.”
— Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius AntoninusEnglish
“Nothing happens to any man which he is not formed by nature to bear.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius AntoninusEnglish
“Each soul is potentially divine.”
— Swami Vivekananda, Raja YogaEnglish