Age of Enlightenment

Explore 215 quotes from Age of Enlightenment

Avarice, the spur of industry, is so obstinate a passion, and works its way through so many real dangers and difficulties, that it is not likely to be scared by an imaginary danger, which is so small, that it scarcely admits of calculation.

David Hume

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Topic

Profit motive Greed

Author

David Hume

Source

Of Civil Liberty (originally Of Liberty and Despotism) Essays, Moral and Political

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1741 1740s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hume, David. "Of Liberty and Despotism." Essays, Moral and Political. Edinburgh: A. Kincaid, 1741, no. 15.

Current Citation

Hume, David. "Of Civil Liberty." Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary: Volumes 1 and 2, edited by Tom L. Beauchamp and Mark A Box. Oxford University Press, 2022, pt. 1, no. 12.

We are delighted to find a person who values us as we value ourselves, and distinguishes us from the rest of mankind, with an attention not unlike that with which we distinguish ourselves.

Adam Smith

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

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Topic

Feeling loved

Author

Adam Smith

Source

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1759 1750s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. London: Andrew Millar/Edinburgh: Alexander Kincaid and J. Bell, 1759, pt. 2, sect. 3, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments, edited by Ryan Patrick Hanley. Penguin, 2010, pt. 2, sect. 3, ch. 1.

When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign; that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.

Jonathan Swift

Read Thoughts on Various Subjects at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Genius Being misunderstood

Author

Jonathan Swift

Source

Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting

Medium

Essay

Genre

Satire

Language

English

Time

1711 1720s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Swift, Jonathan. "Various Thoughts, Moral and Diverting." Miscellanies in Prose and Verse. 1st ed. London: John Morphew, 1711.

Current Citation

Swift, Jonathan. "Thoughts on Various Subjects (1711)." Jonathan Swift: The Essential Writings, edited by Claude Rawson and Ian Higgins. W. W. Norton & Company, 2009.

All events are linked together in the best of possible worlds; for, after all, if you had not been driven from a fine castle by being kicked in the backside for love of Miss Cunégonde, if you hadn’t been sent before the Inquisition, if you hadn’t traveled across America on foot, if you hadn’t given a good sword thrust to the baron, if you hadn’t lost all your sheep from the good land of Eldorado, you wouldn’t be sitting here eating candied citron and pistachios.

Voltaire

Candide

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Topic

Interconnectedness of all things

Speaker

Pangloss

Author

Voltaire

Source

Candide

Medium

Novel

Genre

Satire

Language

French

Time

1759 1750s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Voltaire. Candide, ou l'Optimisme [Candide: or, All for the Best]. Geneva: Gabriel Cramer, 1759, ch. 30.

Current Citation

Voltaire. Candide, edited by Nicholas Cronk. W. W. Norton & Company, 2016, ch. 30.

Even in those cities which seem to enjoy the blessings of peace, and where the arts flourish, the inhabitants are devoured by envy, cares and anxieties, which are greater plagues than any experienced in a town when it is under siege.

Voltaire

Candide

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Topic

War and peace War Peace

Speaker

Martin

Author

Voltaire

Source

Candide

Medium

Novel

Genre

Satire

Language

French

Time

1759 1750s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Voltaire. Candide, ou l'Optimisme [Candide: or, All for the Best]. Geneva: Gabriel Cramer, 1759, ch. 20.

Current Citation

Voltaire. Candide, edited by Nicholas Cronk. W. W. Norton & Company, 2016, ch. 20.

Individuals pass like shadows; but the commonwealth is fixed and stable.

Edmund Burke

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Topic

The United Kingdom Ephemeral nature of life Impermanence

Author

Edmund Burke

Source

Speech on Presenting to the House of Commons a Plan for the Better Security of the Independence of Parliament and the Economical Reformation of the Civil and Other Establishments

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1780 1780s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Speech on Presenting to the House of Commons a Plan for the Better Security of the Independence of Parliament and the Economical Reformation of the Civil and Other Establishments." 11 Feb. 1780, Palace of Westminster, Westminster, London, England, UK.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Speech on Economical Reform." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

The reading of good books is like a conversation with the best men of past centuries-in fact like a prepared conversation, in which they reveal only the best of their thoughts.

René Descartes

Discourse on Method

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Topic

Power of literature Books

Author

René Descartes

Source

Discourse on Method

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1637 1630s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Descartes, René [published anonymously]. Discours de la Méthode: Pour bien conduire sa raison, et chercher la vérité dans les sciences [Discourse on Method: To Conduct Reason Well, and Seek Truth in the Sciences]. Leiden, 1637, pt. 1.

Current Citation

Descartes, René. Discourse on the Method, translated by Ian Maclean. Oxford University Press, 2008, pt. 1.

So it is in travelling; a man must carry knowledge with him, if he would bring home knowledge.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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Topic

Learning from travel Travel

Speaker

Samuel Johnson

Author

James Boswell

Source

The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D

Genre

Biography

Language

English

Time

1776 1770s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. 17 Apr. 1776.

Current Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

Do you believe that men have always massacred each other as they do to-day, that they have always been liars, cheats, traitors, ingrates, brigands, idiots, thieves, scoundrels, gluttons, drunkards, misers, envious, ambitious, bloody-minded, calumniators, debauchees, fanatics, hypocrites, and fools?

Voltaire

Candide

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Topic

Man and war Human nature The human condition

Author

Voltaire

Source

Candide

Medium

Novel

Genre

Satire

Language

French

Time

1759 1750s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Voltaire. Candide, ou l'Optimisme [Candide: or, All for the Best]. Geneva: Gabriel Cramer, 1759, ch. 21.

Current Citation

Voltaire. Candide, edited by Nicholas Cronk. W. W. Norton & Company, 2016, ch. 21.

Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other.

Edmund Burke

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Topic

School of hard knocks Learning from mistakes

Author

Edmund Burke

Source

Letters of Edmund Burke

Medium

Open letter Letter

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1796 1790s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. Two Letters to a Member of the Present Parliament, on the Proposals for Peace with the Regicide Directory of France. London: F. and C. Rivington, 1796, letter 1.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. Letters on a Regicide Peace." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009, letter 1.

Nae man can tether time or tide.

Robert Burns

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Topic

The only constant is change Passage of time Ocean and sea

Author

Robert Burns

Source

Tam O'Shanter

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1791 1790s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Burns, Robert. "Tam O'Shanter." Edinburgh Herald/Edinburgh Magazine, Mar. 1791.

Current Citation

Burns, Robert. "Tam O'Shanter." Robert Burns: Selected Poems, edited by Carol Mcguirk. Penguin Classics, 1994.

The age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators, has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished for ever.

Edmund Burke

Reflections on the Revolution in France

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Topic

Chivalry is dead Age of chivalry Disenchanted world Alienation Europe

Author

Edmund Burke

Source

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1790 1790s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. Reflections on the Revolution in France. London: James Dodsley, 1790.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Reflections on the Revolution in France." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way to the common feelings of mankind.

Edward Gibbon

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

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Topic

Legal theory Moral theory Law

Author

Edward Gibbon

Source

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1776 1770s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Vol. 1, London: Strahan & Cadell, 1776, ch. 14.

Current Citation

Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volumes 1-6. Vol. 1. Everyman's Library, 2010, ch. 14.

Man being...by nature all free, equal, and independent, no one can be put out of this estate and subjected to the political power of another without his own consent.

John Locke

Two Treatises of Government

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Topic

Political theory Nature of man Politics

Author

John Locke

Source

Second Treatise of Civil Government Two Treatises of Government

Medium

Treatise

Genre

Political literature

Statement Type

Precepts and axioms

Language

English

Time

1690 1690s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Locke, John. "Second Treatise of Civil Government." Two Treatises of Government. London: Awnsham Churchill, 1690, introduction.

Current Citation

Locke, John. Second Treatise of Civil Government, edited by C. B. Macpherson. Hackett Publishing Company, 1980, introduction.

People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.

Edmund Burke

Reflections on the Revolution in France

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Topic

Learning from the past Ignorance of history History

Author

Edmund Burke

Source

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1790 1790s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. Reflections on the Revolution in France. London: James Dodsley, 1790.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Reflections on the Revolution in France." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

He that runs against Time has an antagonist not subject to casualties.

Samuel Johnson

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Topic

Time is undefeated Relentlessness of time Time

Author

Samuel Johnson

Source

Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets

Language

English

Time

1781 1780s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Johnson, Samuel. "Pope." Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets. London: C. Bathurst, et al., 1781.

Current Citation

Johnson, Samuel. "Pope." The Lives of the Poets: A Selection, edited by Roger Lonsdale. Oxford University Press, 2009.

How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it.

Adam Smith

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

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Topic

Man as social animal Empathy Human nature

Author

Adam Smith

Source

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Opening lines

Language

English

Time

1759 1750s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. London: Andrew Millar/Edinburgh: Alexander Kincaid and J. Bell, 1759, pt. 1, sect. 1, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments, edited by Ryan Patrick Hanley. Penguin, 2010, pt. 1, sect. 1, ch. 1.

All censure of a man's self is oblique praise. It is in order to shew how much he can spare.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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Topic

False humility Self-criticism

Speaker

Samuel Johnson

Author

James Boswell

Source

The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D

Genre

Biography

Language

English

Time

1778 1770s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. 25 Apr. 1778.

Current Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

Among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot long exist.

Edmund Burke

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Topic

Decline of democracy Democracy Freedom Moral decline Morality

Author

Edmund Burke

Source

Letters of Edmund Burke

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1777 1770s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. A Letter to John Farr and John Harris, Esqs., Sheriffs of the City of Bristol, on the Affairs of America. London: J. Dodsley, 3 Apr. 1777.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "A Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol on the Affairs of America." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

I could not possibly exist with the nature I actually have, that is, one endowed with the idea of God, unless there really is a God; the very God, I mean, of whom I have an idea.

René Descartes

Meditations on First Philosophy

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Topic

God and man Existence of God God

Author

René Descartes

Source

Meditations on First Philosophy

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

1641 1640s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Descartes, René. Meditationes de Prima Philosophia, in qua Dei existentia et animæ immortalitas demonstratur [Meditations on First Philosophy, in which the existence of God and the immortality of the soul are demonstrated]. Paris, 1641, third meditation.

Current Citation

Descarte, René. "Meditations on First Philosophy." Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy, translated by Donald A. Cress. Hackett Publishing, 1999, third meditation.