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
book learning numbers
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.
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.
girl fashion religious
There comes a moment during which almost every girl or boy falls into melancholy; they are tormented by a vague inquietude which rests on everything and finds nothing to calm it. They seek solitude; they weep; the silence to be found in cloister attracts them: the image of peace that seems to reign in religious houses seduces them. They mistake the first manifestations of a developing sexual nature for the voice of God calling them to Himself; and it is precisely when nature is inciting them that they embrace a fashion of life contrary to nature's wish.
war people sovereign
There is no true sovereign except the nation; there can be no true legislator except the people.
heart acquire knows
When we know to read our own hearts, we acquire wisdom of the heartsof others.
Une danse est un poe' me. A dance is a poem.
men solitude bad-man
Only the bad man is alone.
disorder gaiety genius ordinary quality
Gaiety - a quality of ordinary men. Genius always presupposes some disorder in the machine.
generally sketch spirited
A sketch is generally more spirited than a picture,
jesus blood literature
The blood of Jesus Christ can cover a multitude of sins, it seems to me.
earth schools temples theology
See this egg. It is with this that all the schools of theology and all the temples of the earth are to be overturned.
capable claims conclusion draw matter order organized prefer takes therefore wants
Descartes said: "I think, therefore I am." Helvetius wants to say: "I feel, therefore I want to feel pleasantly." I prefer Hobbes who claims that in order to draw a conclusion which takes us somewhere, we must say, "I feel, I think, I judge; therefore, a part of organized matter like me is capable of feeling, thinking, and judging.
force quotes sentences sharp truth
Sentences are like sharp nails, which force truth upon our memories.