Denis Diderot quotes

Although a man may wear fine clothing, if he lives peacefully; and is good, self-possessed, has faith and is pure; and if he does not hurt any living being, he is a holy man.
Denis Diderot

Distance is a great promoter of admiration!
Denis Diderot

Every man has his dignity. I'm willing to forget mine, but at my own discretion and not when someone else tells me to.
Denis Diderot

Evil always turns up in this world through some genius or other.
Denis Diderot

From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step.
Denis Diderot

If you want me to believe in God, you must make me touch him.
Denis Diderot

In order to shake a hypothesis, it is sometimes not necessary to do anything more than push it as far as it will go.
Denis Diderot

It is said that desire is a product of the will, but the converse is in fact true: will is a product of desire.
Denis Diderot

Justice is the first virtue of those who command, and stops the complaints of those who obey.
Denis Diderot

Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.
Denis Diderot

Morals are in all countries the result of legislation and government; they are not African or Asian or European: they are good or bad.
Denis Diderot

Only passions, great passions can elevate the soul to great things.
Denis Diderot

People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it. It freezes you to death, and in this world you've got to keep your feet warm.
Denis Diderot

Pithy sentences are like sharp nails which force truth upon our memory.
Denis Diderot

Sentences are like sharp nails, which force truth upon our memories.
Denis Diderot

The arbitrary rule of a just and enlightened prince is always bad. His virtues are the most dangerous and the surest form of seduction: they lull a people imperceptibly into the habit of loving, respecting, and serving his successor, whoever that successor may be, no matter how wicked or stupid.
Denis Diderot

The best doctor is the one you run to and can't find.
Denis Diderot

The decisions of law courts should never be printed: in the long run, they form a counter authority to the law.
Denis Diderot

The infant runs toward it with its eyes closed, the adult is stationary, the old man approaches it with his back turned.
Denis Diderot

The possibility of divorce renders both marriage partners stricter in their observance of the duties they owe to each other. Divorces help to improve morals and to increase the population.
Denis Diderot

There are things I can't force. I must adjust. There are times when the greatest change needed is a change of my viewpoint.
Denis Diderot

There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it.
Denis Diderot

There is only one passion, the passion for happiness.
Denis Diderot

To attempt the destruction of our passions is the height of folly. What a noble aim is that of the zealot who tortures himself like a madman in order to desire nothing, love nothing, feel nothing, and who, if he succeeded, would end up a complete monster!
Denis Diderot

Watch out for the fellow who talks about putting things in order! Putting things in order always means getting other people under your control.
Denis Diderot

We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.
Denis Diderot

When science, art, literature, and philosophy are simply the manifestation of personality they are on a level where glorious and dazzling achievements are possible, which can make a man's name live for thousands of years.
Denis Diderot

When superstition is allowed to perform the task of old age in dulling the human temperament, we can say goodbye to all excellence in poetry, in painting, and in music.
Denis Diderot

You have to make it happen.
Denis Diderot