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Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
7 months 3 weeks ago
I could never stand more than...

I could never stand more than three months of dreaming at a time without feeling an irresistible desire to plunge into society. To plunge into society meant to visit my superior, Anton Antonich Syetochkin. He was the only permanent acquaintance I have had in my life, and I even wonder at the fact myself now. But I even went to see him only when that phase came over me, and when my dreams had reached such a point of bliss that it became essential to embrace my fellows and all mankind immediately. And for that purpose I needed at least one human being at hand who actually existed. I had to call on Anton Antonich, however, on Tuesday - his at-home day; so I always had to adjust my passionate desire to embrace humanity so that it might fall on a Tuesday.

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Part 2, Chapter 2
Philosophical Maxims
Nikos Kazantzakis
Nikos Kazantzakis
4 months 3 weeks ago
The wife of my God is...

The wife of my God is matter; they wrestle with each other, they laugh and weep, they cry out in the nuptial bed of flesh. They spawn and are dismembered. They fill sea, land, and air with species of plants, animals, men, and spirits. This primordial pair embraces, is dismembered, and multiplies in every living creature. All the concentrated agony of the Universe bursts out in every living thing. God is imperiled in the sweet ecstasy and bitterness of flesh. But he shakes himself free, he leaps out of brains and loins, then clings to new brains and new loins until the struggle for liberation again breaks out from the beginning.

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Philosophical Maxims
John Gray
John Gray
6 months 1 day ago
The belief in unity that has...

The belief in unity that has fuelled so many utopian dreams is an effort to reconcile the irreconcilable that ends in repression. Berlin suggests we renounce this venerable faith, and learn how to live with intractable conflict.

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'Isaiah Berlin: The Value of Decency' (p.106-7)
Philosophical Maxims
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill
8 months 3 weeks ago
My father impressed upon me from...

My father impressed upon me from the first, that the manner in which the world came into existence was a subject on which nothing was known: that the question, "Who made me?" cannot be answered, because we have no experience or authentic information from which to answer it; and that any answer only throws the difficulty a step further back, since the question immediately presents itself, "Who made God?"

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(pp. 42-43)
Philosophical Maxims
Alan Watts
Alan Watts
5 months 5 days ago
To have faith is to trust...

To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.

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The Essence of Alan Watts
Philosophical Maxims
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius
4 months 3 weeks ago
And finally remember that nothing harms...

And finally remember that nothing harms him who is really a citizen, which does not harm the state; nor yet does anything harm the state which does not harm law [order]; and of these things which are called misfortunes not one harms law. What then does not harm law does not harm either state or citizen.

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X, 33
Philosophical Maxims
Karl Mannheim
Karl Mannheim
4 months 3 weeks ago
Once we recognize that all historical...

Once we recognize that all historical knowledge is relational knowledge, and can only be formulated with reference to the position of the observer, we are faced, once more, with the task of discriminating between what is true and what is false in such knowledge.

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Philosophical Maxims
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
8 months 3 weeks ago
The external embodiment of an act...

The external embodiment of an act is composed of many parts, and may be regarded as capable of being divided into an infinite number of particulars. An act may be looked on as in the first instance coming into contact with only one of these particulars. But the truth of the particular is the universal. A definite act is not confined in its content to one isolated point of the varied external world, but is universal, including these varied relations within itself. The purpose, which is the product of thought and embraces not the particular only but also the universal side, is intention.

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Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Philosophy of Right translated by SW Dyde Queen's University Canada 1896 p. 114-115
Philosophical Maxims
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein
8 months 2 weeks ago
My aim is: to teach you...

My aim is: to teach you to pass from a piece of disguised nonsense to something that is patent nonsense.

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§ 464
Philosophical Maxims
Nikolai Berdyaev
Nikolai Berdyaev
7 months 1 week ago
Morally, it is wrong to suppose...

Morally, it is wrong to suppose the source of evil is outside oneself, that one is a vessel of holiness running over with virtue. Such a disposition is the best soil for a hateful and cruel fanaticism. It is as wrong to impute every wickedness to Jews, Freemasons, "intellectuals," as it is to blame all crimes on the bourgeoisie, the nobility, and the powers that were. No; the root of evil is in me as well, and I must take my share of the responsibility and the blame. That was true before the revolution and it is true still.

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p. 128
Philosophical Maxims
Joseph de Maistre
Joseph de Maistre
4 months 3 weeks ago
The eighteenth century, which distrusted itself...

The eighteenth century, which distrusted itself in nothing, as a matter of course, hesitated in nothing.

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VIII
Philosophical Maxims
Thomas Henry Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley
6 months 1 week ago
The foundation of morality is to...

The foundation of morality is to have done, once and for all, with lying; to give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibilities of knowledge.

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Science and Morals
Philosophical Maxims
Francis Fukuyama
Francis Fukuyama
5 months 2 weeks ago
But there has also been the...

But there has also been the rise of populist movements within existing liberal democracies, and particularly within the United States and Britain, which were... the leaders of the neoliberal revolution... in the 1980s...

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20:01
Philosophical Maxims
C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
8 months 3 weeks ago
"Ah, Psyche," I said, "have I...

"Ah, Psyche," I said, "have I made you so little happy as that?"

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Orual
Philosophical Maxims
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
6 months 1 week ago
I must write it all out,...

I must write it all out, at any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living.

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Locked Rooms and Open Doors
Philosophical Maxims
Martin Luther
Martin Luther
9 months 2 days ago
Many have been deceived by outward...

Many have been deceived by outward appearances and have proceeded to write and teach about good works and how they justify without even mentioning faith. ... Wearying themselves with many works, they never come to righteousness.

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p. 75
Philosophical Maxims
David Hume
David Hume
8 months 4 weeks ago
People who invented the word charity,...

People who invented the word charity, and used it in a good sense, inculcated more clearly, and much more efficaciously, the precept, Be charitable, than any pretended legislator or prophet, who should insert such a maxim in his writings.

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Part I, Essay 22: Of the Standard of Taste
Philosophical Maxims
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
8 months 3 weeks ago
In fact, it is as difficult...

In fact, it is as difficult to appropriate the thoughts of others as it is to invent.

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Quotation and Originality
Philosophical Maxims
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
5 months 2 weeks ago
This great maxim of philosophy he...

This great maxim of philosophy he had gathered by the teaching of nature alone - that man was created to work, not to speculate or feel or dream. Accordingly, he set his whole heart thitherwards. He did work wisely and unweariedly, and perhaps performed more with the tools he had than any man I now know.

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Philosophical Maxims
Miguel de Unamuno
Miguel de Unamuno
7 months 1 week ago
The Catholic solution of our problem,...

The Catholic solution of our problem, of our unique vital problem, the problem of the immortality and eternal salvation of the soul, satisfies the will, and therefore satisfies life; but the attempt to rationalize it by means of a dogmatic theology fails to satisfy the reason. And reason has its exigencies as imperious as those of life. It is no use seeking to force ourselves to consider as super-rational what clearly appears to us to be contra-rational... Infallibility, a notion of Hellenic origin, is in its essence a rationalistic category.

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Philosophical Maxims
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
5 months 2 weeks ago
Man, little as he may suppose...

Man, little as he may suppose it, is necessitated to obey superiors. He is a social being in virtue of this necessity; nay he could not be gregarious otherwise. He obeys those whom he esteems better than himself, wiser, braver; and will forever obey such; and even be ready and delighted to do it.

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Philosophical Maxims
Emil Cioran
Emil Cioran
7 months 2 weeks ago
Ambition is a drug that makes...

Ambition is a drug that makes its addicts potential madmen.

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Philosophical Maxims
William Whewell
William Whewell
4 months 3 weeks ago
It has been proved by the...

It has been proved by the biological speculations of past time, that organic Life cannot rightly be resolved into mechanical or chemical forces, or the operation of a vital fluid, or of a soul.

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Philosophical Maxims
Miguel de Unamuno
Miguel de Unamuno
7 months 1 week ago
Egoism you say? There is nothing...

Egoism you say? There is nothing more universal than the individual, for what is the property of each is the property of all. Each man is worth more than the whole of humanity, nor will it do to sacrifice each to all save in so far as all sacrifice themselves to each. That which we call egoism is the principle of psychic gravity, the necessary postulate. "Love thy neighbor as thyself," we are told, the presupposition being that each man loves himself; and it is not said "Love thyself." And nevertheless, we do not know how to love ourselves.

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Philosophical Maxims
William Godwin
William Godwin
7 months 3 weeks ago
The proper method for hastening the...

The proper method for hastening the decay of error is not by brute force, or by regulation which is one of the classes of force, to endeavour to reduce men to intellectual uniformity; but on the contrary by teaching every man to think for himself.

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Vol. 2, bk. 8, ch. 6
Philosophical Maxims
John Locke
John Locke
8 months 3 weeks ago
If man in the state of...

If man in the state of nature be so free, as has been said; if he be absolute lord of his own person and possessions, equal to the greatest, and subject to no body, why will he part with his freedom, this empire, and subject himself to the dominion and control of any other power?

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Second Treatise of Government, Ch. IX, sec. 123
Philosophical Maxims
John Locke
John Locke
8 months 3 weeks ago
Truly, if the preservation of all...

Truly, if the preservation of all mankind, as much as in him lies, were every one's persuasion, as indeed it is every one's duty, and the true principle to regulate our religion, politicks and morality by, the world would be much quieter, and better natur'd than it is.

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Sec. 116
Philosophical Maxims
Max Stirner
Max Stirner
5 months 1 week ago
Do I write out of love...

Do I write out of love to men? No, I write because I want to procure for my thoughts an existence in the world; and, even if I foresaw that these thoughts would deprive you of your rest and your peace, even if I saw the bloodiest wars and the fall of many generations springing up from this seed of thought - I would nevertheless scatter it. Do with it what you will and can, that is your affair and does not trouble me.

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Cambridge 1995, p. 262, 263
Philosophical Maxims
Jean Baudrillard
Jean Baudrillard
6 months 3 weeks ago
The simulacrum now hides, not the...

The simulacrum now hides, not the truth, but the fact that there is none, that is to say, the continuation of Nothingness.

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Philosophical Maxims
comfortdragon
comfortdragon
3 months 3 weeks ago
But if we judge....
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Main Content / General
Jesus
Jesus
7 months 2 weeks ago
It is written, My house shall...

It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

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21:13 (KJV)
Philosophical Maxims
Cisero
Cisero
9 months 1 week ago
We should never take pleasure in...

We should never take pleasure in causing pain to others, even to those who have wronged us, but rather strive to do good to all.

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Philosophical Maxims
Martin Luther
Martin Luther
9 months 2 days ago
...God commanded in the law ....

...God commanded in the law [Deut. 22:22-24] that adulterers be stoned . . . The temporal sword and government should therefore still put adulterers to death . . . Where the government is negligent and lax, however, and fails to inflict the death penalty, the adulterer may betake himself to a far country and there remarry if he is unable to remain continent. But it would be better to put him to death, lest a bad example be set . . .

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Philosophical Maxims
Francis Fukuyama
Francis Fukuyama
5 months 2 weeks ago
Liberalism is... a protection of human...

Liberalism is... a protection of human autonomy.

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11:06
Philosophical Maxims
bell hooks
bell hooks
7 months 1 week ago
My thoughts have been shaped by...

My thoughts have been shaped by the conviction that feminism must become a mass based political movement if it is to have a revolutionary, transformative impact on society.

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p. xiii.
Philosophical Maxims
Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft
7 months 3 weeks ago
Should it be proved that woman...

Should it be proved that woman is naturally weaker than man, from whence does it follow that it is natural for her to labour to become still weaker than nature intended her to be? Arguments of this cast are an insult to common sense, and savour of passion. The divine right of husbands, like the divine right of kings, may, it is to be hoped, in this enlightened age, be contested without danger, and though conviction may not silence many boisterous disputants, yet, when any prevailing prejudice is attacked, the wise will consider, and leave the narrow-minded to rail with thoughtless vehemence at innovation.

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Ch. 3
Philosophical Maxims
Emil Cioran
Emil Cioran
7 months 2 weeks ago
It is an understatement to say...

It is an understatement to say that in this society injustices abound: in truth, it is itself the quintessence of injustice.

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Philosophical Maxims
Max Stirner
Max Stirner
5 months 1 week ago
Atheists keep up their scoffing at...

Atheists keep up their scoffing at the higher being, which was also honoured under the name of the 'highest' or être suprême, and trample in the dust one 'proof of his existence' after another, without noticing that they themselves, out of need for a higher being, only annihilate the old to make room for a new.

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Cambridge 1995, p. 38-39
Philosophical Maxims
Confucius
Confucius
9 months 2 weeks ago
By the ruler's cultivation of his...

By the ruler's cultivation of his own character, the duties of universal obligation are set forth. By honoring men of virtue and talents, he is preserved from errors of judgment.

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Philosophical Maxims
Ian Hacking
Ian Hacking
7 months 1 day ago
There are two ways in which...

There are two ways in which a science develops; in response to problems which is itself creates, and in response to problems that are forced on it from the outside.

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Chapter 1, An Absent Family Of Ideas, p. 4.
Philosophical Maxims
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer
8 months 3 weeks ago
No greater mistake can be made...

No greater mistake can be made than to imagine that what has been written latest is always the more correct; that what is written later on is an improvement on what was written previously; and that every change means progress. Men who think and have correct judgment, and people who treat their subject earnestly, are all exceptions only. Vermin is the rule everywhere in the world: it is always at hand and busily engaged in trying to improve in its own way upon the mature deliberations of the thinkers.

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Philosophical Maxims
Publilius Syrus
Publilius Syrus
6 months 3 weeks ago
It takes a long time to...

It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity.

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Maxim 780
Philosophical Maxims
Ian Hacking
Ian Hacking
7 months 1 day ago
Pascal is called the founder of...

Pascal is called the founder of modern probability theory. He earns this title not only for the familiar correspondence with Fermat on games of chance, but also for his conception of decision theory, and because he was an instrument in the demolition of probabilism, a doctrine which would have precluded rational probability theory.

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Chapter 3, Opinion, p. 23.
Philosophical Maxims
Thales of Miletus
Thales of Miletus
8 months 5 days ago
Water is the first principle of...

Water is the first principle of everything.

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As quoted in Aristotle, Metaphysics, 983b
Philosophical Maxims
Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard
9 months 3 weeks ago
Father in heaven, when the thought...

Father in heaven, when the thought of thee awakens in our soul, let it not waken as an agitated bird which flutters confusedly about, but as a child waking from sleep with a celestial smile.

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Philosophical Maxims
Martin Luther
Martin Luther
9 months 2 days ago
We are beggars…

We are beggars: this is true.

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"The Last Written Words of Luther," Table Talk No. 5468, (16 February 1546), in Dr. Martin Luthers Werke (1909) as translated by James A. Kellerman, Band 85 (TR 5) 317-318
Philosophical Maxims
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz
8 months 4 weeks ago
There are two kinds of truths….

There are two kinds of truths: those of reasoning and those of fact. The truths of reasoning are necessary and their opposite is impossible; the truths of fact are contingent and their opposites are possible.

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La monadologie (33).
Philosophical Maxims
Aristotle
Aristotle
9 months 3 weeks ago
A friend is one soul abiding...

A friend is one soul abiding in two bodies. p. 188; also reported in various sources as:Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies. A true friend is one soul in two bodies. Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.

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Philosophical Maxims
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal
9 months 1 week ago
If they have entered into the...

If they have entered into the spirit if these rules, and if the rules have made sufficient impression on them to become rooted and established in their minds, they will feel how much difference there is between what is said here and what a few logicians may perhaps have written by chance approximating to it in a few passages of their works.

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Philosophical Maxims
Emil Cioran
Emil Cioran
7 months 2 weeks ago
Since the only things we remember...

Since the only things we remember are humiliations and defeats, what is the use of all the rest?

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Philosophical Maxims
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