Quotes of Philosophers

 

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

  • Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the
    freedom to make mistakes.
  • Be the change you wish to see in the world.

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

 

Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)

  • If you keep thinking about what you want to do or what you hope will happen, you don't do it, and it won't happen.

Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)

 

John Kenneth Galbraith, economist (1908-2006) 

  • The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; 
     that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

 

Albert Einstein  (1879–1955)

  • It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.
  • Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
  • A human being is part of the whole called by us universe ... We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening  our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive.
Albert Einstein  (1879–1955)

Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)

  • I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn't wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine.

Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)

 

Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650)

  • In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn, than to contemplate.

Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650)

 

Socrates (469–399 B.C.E.)  Also read of his Trial in Athens
  • The unexamined life is not worth living. (in Plato, Dialogues, Apology )
  • An honest man is always a child.
  • As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.
  • I am not an Athenian, nor a Greek, but a citizen of the world.

Socrates (469–399 B.C.E.)

 

Confucius (551-479 BCE)

  • It is not the failure of others to  appreciate your abilities that should trouble you, but rather your failure to appreciate theirs.  (from The Analects)

Confucius (551-479 BCE)

 

Lao Tzu  (possibly 6th Century B.C.E.) 

  • A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. 

Lao Tzu  (possibly 6th Century B.C.E.)  

 

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)

  • A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that's unlocked and opens inwards; as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push.  

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower  (1890-1969)

  • Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace.

Dwight D. Eisenhower (18901969)