Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderotʁo]; 5 October 1713 – 31 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent figure during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the Encyclopédie along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert...
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth5 October 1713
greatness men light
To say that man is a compound of strength and weakness, light and darkness, smallness and greatness, is not to indict him, it is to define him.
miracle absurdity prove
To prove the Gospels by a miracle is to prove an absurdity by something contrary to nature.
heart character son
L'homme est ne pour la socie te ; se parez-le, isolez-le, ses ide es se de suniront, son caracte' re se tournera, mille affections ridicules s'e le' veront dans son coeur; des 274 pense es extravagantes germeront dans son esprit, comme les ronces dans une terre sauvage. Man is born to live in society: separate him, isolate him, and his ideas disintegrate, his character changes, a thousand ridiculous affectations rise up in his heart; extreme thoughts take hold in his mind, like the brambles in a wild field.
Le public ne sait pas toujours de sirer le vrai. Thepublicdoesnot alwaysknowhow todesirethetruth.
death running hate
People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it. It freezes you to death, and in this world you've got to keep your feet warm.
moral poetic plus
En ge ne ral, plus un peuple est civilise , poli, moins ses moeurs sont poe tiques; tout s'affaiblit en s'adoucissant. Ingeneral, themore civilized and refinedthepeople, the less poetic are its morals; everything weakens as it mellows.
evil encounters masters
Jacques said that his master said that everything good or evil we encounter here below was written on high.
memories literature nails
Pithy sentences are like sharp nails which force truth upon our memory.
mean numbers would-be
If exclusive privileges were not granted, and if the financial system would not tend to concentrate wealth, there would be few great fortunes and no quick wealth. When the means of growing rich is divided between a greater number of citizens, wealth will also be more evenly distributed; extreme poverty and extreme wealth would be also rare.
rich figures composition
One composition is meagre, though it has many figures; another is rich, though it has few.
men missing ungrateful
Isn't it better to have men being ungrateful than to miss a chance to do good?
men giving shame
Give, but, if possible, spare the poor man the shame of begging.
love life giving
It has been said that love robs those who have it of their wit, and gives it to those who have none.
people religion use
The most dangerous madmen are those created by religion, and... people whose aim is to disrupt society always know how to make good use of them on occasion.