"The Christian religion teaches us to imitate a God that is cruel, insidious, jealous, and implacable in his wrath."
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Quote collection
Denis Diderot quotes (page 3 of 10)
187 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"Poetry must have something in it that is barbaric, vast and wild."
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"First of all move me, surprise me, rend my heart; make me tremble, weep, shudder; outrage me; delight my eyes afterwards if you can."
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"As long as the centuries continue to unfold, the number of books will grow continually, and one can predict that a time will come when it will be almost as difficult to learn anything from books as from the direct study of the whole universe. It will be almost as convenient to search for some bit of truth concealed in nature as it will be to find it hidden away in an immense multitude of bound volumes."
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"No man has received from nature the right to give orders to others. Freedom is a gift from heaven, and every individual of the same species has the right to enjoy it as soon as he is in enjoyment of his reason."
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"Gratitude is a burden, and every burden is made to be shaken off."
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"But if you will recall the history of our civil troubles, you will see half the nation bathe itself, out of piety, in the blood of the other half, and violate the fundamental feelings of humanity in order to sustain the cause of God: as though it were necessary to cease to be a man in order to prove oneself religious!"
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"Distance is a great promoter of admiration."
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"The best mannered people make the most absurd lovers."
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"I like better for one to say some foolish thing upon important matters than to be silent. That becomes the subject of discussion and dispute, and the truth is discovered."
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"Isn't it better to have men being ungrateful than to miss a chance to do good?"
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"Scepticism is the first step towards truth."
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"The good of the people must be the great purpose of government. By the laws of nature and of reason, the governors are invested with power to that end. And the greatest good of the people is liberty. It is to the state what health is to the individual."
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"It is said that desire is a product of the will, but the converse is in fact true: will is a product of desire."
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"It is not human nature we should accuse but the despicable conventions that pervert it."
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"You risk just as much in being credulous as in being suspicious."
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"Morals are in all countries the result of legislation and government; they are not African or Asian or European: they are good or bad."
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"All children are essentially criminal."
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"There is no kind of harassment that a man may not inflict on a woman with impunity in civilized societies."
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"It is very important not to mistake hemlock for parsley, but to believe or not believe in God is not important at all."
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