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
bitter drink drop lie swallow truth women
Women swallow at one mouthful the lie that flatters, and drink drop by drop the truth that is bitter
running law long
The decisions of law courts should never be printed: in the long run, they form a counter authority to the law.
ignorance prejudice
Ignorance is less remote from the truth than prejudice.
cat
There are cats and cats.
miracle absurdity prove
To prove the Gospels by a miracle is to prove an absurdity by something contrary to nature.
christian holy-prophet religion
There is not a Musselman[Muslim] alive who would not imagine that he was performing an action pleasing to God and his Holy Prophet by exterminating every Christian on earth, while the Christians are scarcely more tolerant on their side.
father order able
In order to get as much fame as one's father one has to much more able than he.
sublime essentials thieves
If there is one realm in which it is essential to be sublime, it is in wickedness. You spit on a petty thief, but you can't deny a kind of respect for the great criminal.
love change time
The first promise exchanged by two beings of flesh was at the foot of a rock that was crumbling into dust; they took as witness for their constancy a sky that is not the same for a single instant; everything changed in them and around them, and they believed their hearts free of vicissitudes. O children! always children!
fiction easy tales
How easy it is to tell tales!
funny wise honesty
I discuss with myself questions of politics, love, taste, or philosophy. I let my mind rove wantonly, give it free rein to followany idea, wise or mad that may present itself.... My ideas are my harlots.
religion different revelations
Only a very bad theologian would confuse the certainty that follows revelation with the truths that are revealed. They are entirely different things.
power long denial
Power acquired by violence is only a usurpation, and lasts only as long as the force of him who commands prevails over that of those who obey.
creativity mean reflection
Our observation of nature must be diligent, our reflection profound, and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined; and for this reason, creative geniuses are not common.