Philosopher

Explore 1213 quotes by Philosophers

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.

Adam Smith

The Wealth of Nations

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Topic

Self-interest Free market Capitalism

Author

Adam Smith

Source

The Wealth of Nations

Genre

Economic literature

Language

English

Time

1776 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations. Vol. 1, London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1776, bk. 1, ch. 2.

Current Citation

Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, edited by Edwin Cannan. The Modern Library, bk. 1, ch. 2.

God is dead: but as the human race is constituted, there will perhaps be caves for millenniums yet, in which people will show his shadow.

Friedrich Nietzsche

The Gay Science

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Topic

Existence of God God Decline of religion Atheism Human nature

Author

Friedrich Nietzsche

Source

The Gay Science

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1882 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Die frohliche Wissenschaft [The Gay Science]. Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1882, bk. 3, no. 108.

Current Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Joyous Science, translated by R. Kevin Hill. Penguin Classics, 2019, bk. 3, no. 108.

The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.

Karl Marx

The Communist Manifesto

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Topic

Revolution Class conflict Oppression Politics

Author

Karl Marx

Source

The Communist Manifesto

Medium

Pamphlet

Genre

Political literature Economic literature

Language

German

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels [published anonymously]. Manifest der kommunistischen Partei [Manifesto of the Communist Party]. London: Gedruckt in der Office der Bildungs-Gesellschaft für Arbeiter, 1848.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto, translated by Samuel Moore and Friedrich Engels. Penguin Classics, 2002.

Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.

Socrates

Quoted in Theaetetus, by Plato

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Topic

Curiosity Wonder Philosophy

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Theaetetus

Medium

Philosophical dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Θεαίτητος [Theaetetus], written by Plato. c. 369 BC.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Theaetetus, written by Plato, translated by John McDowell. Oxford University Press, 2014.

The unexamined life is not worth living.

Socrates

Quoted in Apology, by Plato

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Topic

Philosophy Introspection Self-criticism Self-knowledge Wisdom

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Apology

Medium

Courtroom speech Speech

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

399 BC 390s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plato. Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους [Apology of Socrates]. Speech of legal self-defence which Socrates spoke at his trial for impiety and corruption. 399 BC, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Plato. "Apology." Plato: Euthyphro; Apology; Crito; Phaedo, translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones and William Preddy. Harvard University Press, 2017.

The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.

Karl Marx

The Communist Manifesto

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Topic

Class conflict Oppression History

Author

Karl Marx

Source

The Communist Manifesto

Medium

Pamphlet

Genre

Political literature Economic literature

Language

German

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels [published anonymously]. Manifest der kommunistischen Partei [Manifesto of the Communist Party]. London: Gedruckt in der Office der Bildungs-Gesellschaft für Arbeiter, 1848.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto, translated by Samuel Moore and Friedrich Engels. Penguin Classics, 2002.

In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain... And the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

Thomas Hobbes

Leviathan

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Topic

State of nature Anarchy Government

Author

Thomas Hobbes

Source

Leviathan

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1651 1650s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil. London: Andrew Crooke, 1651, pt. 1, ch. 13.

Current Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, edited by Christopher Brooke. Penguin Classics, 2017, pt. 1, ch. 13.

And with the guts of the last priest
Let's wring the neck of the last king.

Denis Diderot

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Topic

Anti-clericalism Anti-monarchism Revolution

Author

Denis Diderot

Source

Les Eleutheromanes

Medium

Poem

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1772 1770s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Diderot, Denis. "Les Eleutheromanes [The Eleutherans]." Correspondance littéraire, 1 Mar. 1772.

Man is the measure of all things.

Protagoras

Quoted in Theaetetus, by Plato

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Topic

Nature of man

Speaker

Protagoras

Author

Plato

Source

Theaetetus

Medium

Philosophical dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

420 BC 420s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plato. Θεαίτητος [Theatetus]. c. 400 BC.

Current Citation

Plato. Theatetus, translated by John McDowell. Oxford University Press, 2014.

Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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Topic

Freedom Liberation The human condition

Author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Source

The Social Contract

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

French

Time

1762 1760s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Du contrat social ou Principes du droit politique [On the Social Contract or Principles of Political Law]. Amsterdam: Marc Michel Rey, 1762, bk. 1, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. "Of the Social Contract." Of the Social Contract and Other Political Writings, translated by Quintin Hoare. Penguin Classics, 2012, bk. 1, ch. 1.

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs!

Karl Marx

Read Critique of the Gotha Programme at marxists.org

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Topic

Redistribution of wealth Socialism Communism Political theory Politics

Author

Karl Marx

Source

Critique of the Gotha Programme

Genre

Political literature Economic literature

Statement Type

Precepts and axioms

Language

German

Time

1883 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Marx, Karl. Kritik des Gothaer Programms [Critique of the Gotha Programme]. Berlin: Friedrich Engels, 1891, pt. 1.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl. Critique of the Gotha Program, translated by Kevin B. Anderson. PM Press, 2022, pt. 1.

Know thyself.

Thales

Quoted in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, by Diogenes Laërtius

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Topic

Introspection Self-knowledge Self-awareness Wisdom

Speaker

Thales

Author

Diogenes Laërtius

Source

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers

Medium

Presocratic fragment Fragment

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Advice

Language

Greek

Time

3rd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thales. Quoted in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, written by Diogenes Laërtius. c. 240 AD, bk. 1, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Thales. Quoted in The Lives of Eminent Philosophers, written by Diogenes Laërtius, translated by Pamela Mensch, edited by James Miller. Oxford University Press, 2018, bk. 1, ch. 1.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Lao Tzu

Tao Te Ching

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Topic

Patience Persistence One step at a time

Author

Lao Tzu

Source

Tao Te Ching

Genre

Philosophical literature Religious literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

Chinese

Time

400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. 道德經 [Tao Te Ching]. c. 400 BC, ch. 64.

Current Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. "The Natural Way of Lao Tzu." A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, translated by Wing-Tsit Chan. Princeton University Press, 1969, ch. 64.

All men by nature desire to know.

Aristotle

Metaphysics

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Topic

Curiosity Knowledge Human nature

Author

Aristotle

Source

Metaphysics

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

322 BC 320s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristotle. τὰ μετὰ τὰ φυσικά [Those after the physics]. c. 322 BC, bk. 1.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Metaphysics, translated by Hugh Lawson-Tancred. Penguin Classics, 1999, book alpha.

I think, therefore I am.

René Descartes

Discourse on Method

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Topic

Nature of man

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. 4.

Current Citation

Descartes, René. Discourse on the Method, translated by Ian Maclean. Oxford University Press, 2008, pt. 4.

In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king.

Erasmus

More information about this quote

Topic

Relativism

Author

Erasmus

Source

Adagia

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

Latin

Time

1536 1530s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Erasmus. Collectanea Adagiorum. Paris: Enguilbert de Marnef, 1500.

Current Citation

Erasmus. The Adages of Erasmus, edited by William Barker, translated by Margaret Mann Phillips. University of Toronto Press, 2001.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

George Santayana

The Life of Reason

More information about this quote

Topic

Learning from the past History The past

Author

George Santayana

Source

The Life of Reason

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1905 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Santayana, George. The Life of Reason: Introduction and Reason in Common Sense, edited by Marianne S. Wokeck and Martin A. Coleman. Vol. 7, The MIT Press, 2011, bk. 1, ch. 12. Originally published by Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905

The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class.

Karl Marx

The Communist Manifesto

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Topic

Ruling class Class conflict History of ideas Ideas

Author

Karl Marx

Source

The Communist Manifesto

Medium

Pamphlet

Genre

Political literature Economic literature

Language

German

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels [published anonymously]. Manifest der kommunistischen Partei [Manifesto of the Communist Party]. London: Gedruckt in der Office der Bildungs-Gesellschaft für Arbeiter, 1848.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto, translated by Samuel Moore and Friedrich Engels. Penguin Classics, 2002.

Man is by nature a political animal.

Aristotle

Politics

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Topic

Politics Human nature

Author

Aristotle

Source

Politics

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

350 BC 350s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Aristotle. Politics. 4th century BC, bk. 1.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Politics, translated by R. F. Stalley and Sir Ernest Barker. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 1.

I am condemned to be free.

Jean-Paul Sartre

Being and Nothingness

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Topic

Downsides of freedom Freedom

Author

Jean-Paul Sartre

Source

Being and Nothingness

Medium

Essay

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

French

Time

1943 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Sartre, Jean Paul. Le etre et le neant: Essai d'ontologie phenomenologique [Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology]. Librairie Gallimard, 1943, pt. 4, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Sartre, Jean Paul. Being and Nothingness, translated by Sarah Richmond. Washington Square Press, 2021, pt. 4, ch. 1.