Previous
Denis Diderot Quotes
Next

The general interest of the masses might take the place of the insight of genius if it were allowed freedom of action.

Download Copy Translate
Denis Diderot

Denis Diderot

Profession: Philosopher
Nationality: French


The general interest of the masses might take the place of the insight of genius if it were allowed .. Denis Diderot

Some suggestions for you :

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

Virtue is praised but hated. People run away from it for it is ice-cold and in this world you must keep your feet warm.

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

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

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

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers.

We are all instruments endowed with feeling and memory. Our senses are so many strings that are struck by surrounding objects and that also frequently strike themselves.

No man has received from nature the right to command his fellow human beings.

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

Poetry must have something in it that is barbaric, vast and wild.

Power 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.

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.

There is no kind of harassment that a man may not inflict on a woman with impunity in civilized societies.

If there is one realm in which it is essential to be sublime, it is in wickedness. You spit on a petty thief, but you can't deny a kind of respect for the great criminal.

Show all