Selected quotes

Diderot

1713 - 1784 (71)

Diderot
Biography More Quotes Quotes by Word
17 quotes
Quote 1

The happiest man is the one who makes people happy.

Quote 2

Every man has his dignity. I'm willing to forget mine, but at my own discretion and not when someone else tells me to.

Quote 3

Morals are in all countries the result of legislation and government; they are not African or Asian or European: they are good or bad.

Quote 4

The best doctor is the one you run to and can't find.

Quote 5

From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step.

Quote 6

We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.

Quote 7

Only passions, great passions can elevate the soul to great things.

Quote 8

You have to make it happen.

Quote 9

Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.

Quote 10

There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge: observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.

Quote 11

The God of the Christians is a father who makes much of his apples, and very little of his children.

Quote 12

Justice is the first virtue of those who command, and stops the complaints of those who obey.

Quote 13

We are far more liable to catch the vices than the virtues of our associates.

Quote 14

We are all instruments endowed with feeling and memory. Our senses are so many strings that are struck by surrounding objects and that also frequently strike themselves.

Quote 15

Good music is very close to primitive language.

Quote 16

The pit of a theatre is the one place where the tears of virtuous and wicked men alike are mingled.

Quote 17

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers.