Philosophy quotes
5.3K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside philosophy — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"Words do not express thoughts very well; every thing immediately becomes a little different, a little distorted, a little foolish. And yet it also pleases me and seems right that what is of value and wisdom of one man seems nonsense to another."
"The state of man's mind, or the elementary phase of mind which he so far possesses, conforms precisely to the state of the world as he so far views it"
"I don't really have a life philosophy; my thing is just rebelling against pretty much organized religion. That is my main thing, because personally I think it's a crutch for people that are too weak to get through life on their own. I'm the kind of guy that says if I don't see it, then it doesn't work. And nobody can show me God."
"There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy."
"If you want to amend your errors, you must begin by amending your philosophy."
"When I speak of poetry I am not thinking of it as a genre. Poetry is an awareness of the world, a particular way of relating to reality. So poetry becomes a philosophy to guide a man throughout his life."
"I decided to teach because I think that any person who studies philosophy has to be involved actively."
"Satyagraha is the pursuit of truth. My grandfather believed that truth should be the cornerstone of everybody's life and that we must dedicate our lives to pursuing truth, to finding out the truth in our lives. And so his entire philosophy was the philosophy of life. It was not just a philosophy for conflict resolution, but something that we have to imbibe in our life and live it all the time so that we can improve and become better human beings."
"To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day."
"When I could have used a wife, I could not support one; and when I could support one, I no longer needed any"
"People who say they don't care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don't care what people think."
"Favor comes because for a brief moment in the great space of human change and progress some general human purpose finds in him a satisfactory embodiment."
"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop."
"A new philosophy, a new way of life, is not given for nothing. It has to be paid dearly for and only acquired with much patience and great effort"
"You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts."
"Wonder is the feeling of the philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder."
"If the philosophy of Christianity were lived, wars would cease, unhappiness would cease, economic problems would be solved, poverty would be wiped from the face of the earth, and man's inhumanity to man would be transmuted into a spirit of mutual helpfulness."
"How can there be methods and systems to arrive at something that is living? To that which is static, fixed, dead, there can be a way, a definite path, but not to that which is living. Do not reduce reality to a static thing and then invent methods to reach it. ...Truth has no path. Truth is living and, therefore, changing. It has no resting place, no form, no organized institution, no philosophy. When you see that, you will understand that this living thing is also what you are. You cannot express and be alive through static, put-together form, through stylized movement."
"True philosophy must start from the most immediate and comprehensive fact of consciousness: "I am life that wants to live, in the midst of life that wants to live.""
"Genius is its own reward; for the best that one is, one must necessarily be for oneself. . . . Further, genius consists in the working of the free intellect., and as a consequence the productions of genius serve no useful purpose. The work of genius may be music, philosophy, painting, or poetry; it is nothing for use or profit. To be useless and unprofitable is one of the characteristics of genius; it is their patent of nobility."
