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Quotes about philosophy

250 quotes from 124 people

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All tales may come true; and yet, at the last, redeemed, they may be as like and unlike the forms that we give them as Man, finally redeemed, will be like and unlike the fallen that we know.
J. R. R. Tolkien1892–1973On Fairy-Stories (1939)
- Theology
- Writing
You don’t have a Soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.
?UnattributedOften credited to C. S. Lewis
- Theology
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned.
?UnattributedIn Daniel Dennett, Breaking the Spell (US: Viking, 2006), p. 17
- Anti-Religion
If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?
Voltaire1694–1778Candide (1759)In context
The most strongly enforced of all known taboos is the taboo against knowing who or what you really are behind the mask of your apparently separate, independent, and isolated ego.
Alan Watts1915–1973The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are (1966), Inside Information
What you are basically, deep, deep down, far, far in, is simply the fabric and structure of existence itself.
Alan Watts1915–1973The Nature of Consciousness
We should have with each person the relationship of one conception of the universe to another conception of the universe, and not to a part of the universe.
Simone Weil1909–1943Gravity and Grace (1947), p. 129 (1972 edition)
“To define is to limit.”
Oscar Wilde1854–1900The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), Chapter XVIIIn context
My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate — that’s my philosophy.
Thornton Wilder1897–1975The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), Act One
- Advice
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
Ludwig Wittgenstein1889–1951Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922), 7
- Talking
In philosophy the race is to the one who can run slowest⁠—the one who crosses the finish line last.
Ludwig Wittgenstein1889–1951Culture and Value (1980), p. 40e
Philosophy hasn’t made any progress?⁠—If someone scratches where it itches, do we have to see progress? Is it not genuine scratching otherwise, or genuine itching?
Ludwig Wittgenstein1889–1951Culture and Value (1980), p. 98e
The world is all that is the case.
Ludwig Wittgenstein1889–1951Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922), 1
The world is the totality of facts, not things.
Ludwig Wittgenstein1889–1951Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922), 1.1
- Facts
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.
Ludwig Wittgenstein1889–1951Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922), 5.6