Denis Diderot Quotes

Everyone wants to have friends and no one wants to be one.

The first step towards philosophy is disbelief.

There is constant talk against the passions. They are considered the source of all human evil, but it is forgotten that they are also the source of all pleasure.

Not to repent nor to reproach others are the steps of wisdom.

He who can compel us to good could also compel us to evil. A first just, energetic, and enlightened despot is a misfortune; a second just, energetic, and enlightened despot is a greater misfortune; a third, resembling the first two, by causing the people to forget their privileges, would consummate their slavery.

The arbitrary government of a prince, even if it is just and enlightened, is always bad.

He who needs a protocol will never get far; geniuses read little, practice a lot, and make themselves.

We gulp down the lie that flatters us in one sip, and we drink drop by drop the truth that embitters us.