A nation which thinks that it is belief in God and not good law which makes people honest does not seem to me very advanced.
DENIS DIDEROTA nation which thinks that it is belief in God and not good law which makes people honest does not seem to me very advanced.
DENIS DIDEROTPower acquired by violence is only a usurpation, and lasts only as long as the force of him who commands prevails over that of those who obey.
DENIS DIDEROTI like better for one to say some foolish thing upon important matters than to be silent. That becomes the subject of discussion and dispute, and the truth is discovered.
DENIS DIDEROTEvery man has his dignity. I’m willing to forget mine, but at my own discretion and not when someone else tells me to.
DENIS DIDEROTWhich is the greater merit, to enlighten the human race, which remains forever, or to save one’s fatherland, which is perishable?
DENIS DIDEROTThe pit of a theatre is the one place where the tears of virtuous and wicked men alike are mingled.
DENIS DIDEROTOnly passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.
DENIS DIDEROTAll abstract sciences are nothing but the study of relations between signs.
DENIS DIDEROTWe are constantly railing against the passions; we ascribe to them all of man’s afflictions, and we forget that they are also the source of all his pleasures.
DENIS DIDEROTWandering in a vast forest at night, I have only a faint light to guide me. A stranger appears and says to me: ‘My friend, you should blow out your candle in order to find your way more clearly.’ This stranger is a theologian.
DENIS DIDEROTThere’s a bit of testicle at the bottom of our most sublime feelings and our purest tenderness.
DENIS DIDEROTGenius is present in every age, but the men carrying it within them remain benumbed unless extraordinary events occur to heat up and melt the mass so that it flows forth.
DENIS DIDEROTOur observation of nature must be diligent, our reflection profound, and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined; and for this reason, creative geniuses are not common.
DENIS DIDEROTWe swallow with one gulp the lie that flatters us, and drink drop by drop the truth which is bitter to us.
DENIS DIDEROTThe general interest of the masses might take the place of the insight of genius if it were allowed freedom of action.
DENIS DIDEROTThere is only one duty; that is to be happy.
DENIS DIDEROT