Denis Diderot Quotes

The first step towards wisdom is to know thyself. – Denis Diderot

The greatest wealth is to live content with little. – Denis Diderot

There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. – Denis Diderot

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters. – Denis Diderot

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

The best doctor is the one you run to and can’t find. – 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

Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. – Denis Diderot

The most dangerous madmen are those created by religion, and… people whose aim is to disrupt society always know how to make good use of them on occasion. – Denis Diderot

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. – Denis Diderot

It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one. – Denis Diderot

Politeness is the art of choosing among one’s real thoughts. – Denis Diderot

No man has received from nature the right to give orders to others. – Denis Diderot

A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation. – Denis Diderot

If there is one thing one can always yearn for and sometimes attain, it is human love. – Denis Diderot

Forget the people who take orders. Rule over those who give them. – Denis Diderot

The greatest evil of the state is the one that you cannot see: moral corruption. – Denis Diderot

We do not really know what our potential is until we push ourselves to the limits and go beyond what we think is possible. – Denis Diderot

There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. – Denis Diderot

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

It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well. – Denis Diderot

Skepticism is the first step towards truth. – Denis Diderot

It is not enough to busy ourselves only with what is practical; we must also seek the beautiful. – Denis Diderot

There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge: observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination. – Denis Diderot

To succeed in life, we must first believe that we can. – Denis Diderot

The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing. – Denis Diderot

The only way to be happy is to live as if everything were a miracle. – Denis Diderot

The first step towards change is awareness. The second step is acceptance. – Denis Diderot

The world has only progressed when people have dared to be different. – Denis Diderot

I have never been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others. – Denis Diderot

Talent is a gift, but character is a choice. – Denis Diderot

We are all born naked, and the rest is drag. – Denis Diderot

The fish are silent, the water is deadly, and the birds fall from the sky. – Denis Diderot

The best ideas are the ones that have never been thought of before. – Denis Diderot

To live is not to breathe but to act. – Denis Diderot

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. – Denis Diderot

Nature never deceives us; it is always we who deceive ourselves. – Denis Diderot

The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury. – Denis Diderot

Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. – Denis Diderot

The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence itself, but to act with yesterday’s logic. – Denis Diderot

True eloquence consists of saying all that is necessary, and nothing but what is necessary. – Denis Diderot

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. – Denis Diderot

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would have rather talked. – Denis Diderot

The only way to do great work is to love what you do. – Denis Diderot

Life is too short to be spent in the company of people who don’t appreciate you. – Denis Diderot