Philosophy

Explore 28 quotes about Philosophy

Shall I show you the sinews of a philosopher? "What sinews are those?"-A will undisappointed; evils avoided; powers daily exercised; careful resolution; unerring decisions.

Epictetus

Discourses

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Topic

Philosophers Philosophy

Author

Epictetus

Source

Discourses

Medium

Lecture

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

108 100s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Epictetus. Ἐπικτήτου διατριβαί, Epiktētou diatribai [The Discourses of Epictetus]. c. 108, bk. 2, ch. 8.

Current Citation

Epictetus. "The Discourses." Discourses and Other Writings, edited and translated by Robert Dobbin. Penguin Classics, 2008, bk. 2, ch. 8.

Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

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Topic

Limits of knowledge Language Philosophy

Author

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Source

Philosophical Investigations

Medium

Treatise

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1953 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Philosophische Untersuchungen [Philosophical Investigations]. Suhrkamp, 1953, pt. 1.

Current Citation

Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Philosophical Investigations, translated by G. E. M. Anscombe, et. al., edited by P. M. S. Hacker and Joachim Schulte. Wiley Blackwell, 2009, pt. 1.

I have tried too in my time to be a philosopher; but, I don't know how, cheerfulness was always breaking in.

Oliver Edwards

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

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Topic

Philosophy Pessimism Optimism

Speaker

Oliver Edwards

Author

James Boswell

Source

The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D

Genre

Biography

Language

English

Time

1778 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Edwards, Oliver. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. 17 Apr. 1778.

Current Citation

Edwards, Oliver. Quoted in Life of Samuel Johnson. Written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

No man was ever yet a great poet, without being at the same time a profound philosopher.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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Topic

Poetry Philosophy Poets Philosophers

Author

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Source

Biographia Literaria

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1817 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Biographia Literaria, edited by Niger Leask. Vol. 2, London: J. M. Dent, 1817, ch. 15.

Current Citation

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. "Biographia Literaria." Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Major Works, edited by H. J. Jackson. Oxford University Press, 2009, ch. 15.

A man who leaves home to mend himself and others is a philosopher; but he who goes from country to county, guided by the blind impulse of curiosity, is only a vagabond.

Oliver Goldsmith

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Topic

Philosophy Philosophers Travel Wandering

Author

Oliver Goldsmith

Source

The Citizen of the World

Medium

Novel

Genre

Satire

Language

English

Time

1761 1760s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Goldsmith, Oliver. "Letter VII." The Citizen of the World; or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher. Dublin: George and Alex. Ewing, 1762. Originally published in The Public Ledger, Jan. 1760 - Aug. 1761.

For there was never yet philosopher
That could endure the toothache patiently.

William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing

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Topic

Philosophy Managing suffering Suffering

Speaker

Leonato

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Much Ado About Nothing

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1600 1600s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. London: Andrew Wise and William Aspley, 1600, act 5, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Much Ado About Nothing." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 5, sc. 1.

Philosophy is nothing but discretion.

Richard Milward

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Topic

Philosophy Discretion Wisdom

Speaker

John Selden

Author

Richard Milward

Source

Table Talk

Language

English

Time

1689 1680s 17th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Selden, John. Table-talk, being discourses of John Seldon, Esq. London: Alex Murray and Sons, 1689.

Philosophy triumphs easily over past evils and future evils; but present evils triumph over it.

François de La Rochefoucauld

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Topic

Power of philosophy Philosophy

Author

François de La Rochefoucauld

Source

Reflections

Medium

Epigram

Language

French

Time

1678 1670s 17th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Reflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims]. c. 1665.

Current Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Collected Maxims and Other Reflections, translated by E. H. and A. M. Blackmore and Francine Giguere. Oxford University Press, 2008.