The Daily Philosophy

Here you will find quotes from well-known personalities as well as thoughts on topics of general relevance.

 
Guido M. Schmitz

 

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" Reality is the subjective perception of objective circumstances. "

" The closet of life has more than one drawer. "

"To err is more human than admission to error. "

" The thought of tomorrow is bearable just through progress. "

" Talent is a form of ability. It can neither be learned nor copied. "

" The soul is immortal, for what is not will never pass away. "

" Every freedom means the giving up of another! "

" It does not care the player which game he plays, as long as he wins. "

„ Every time is the wrong and the right. “

„ There're million ways to make something wrong, but no reason to take one of them. “

„ Even the universe is not big enough that humans wouldn't make war against each other. “


Stephen Hawking

1942 - 2018

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" The usual method by which science constructs itself a mathematical model cannot answer the question of why there must be a universe that the model describes. "

" We cannot even find exact solutions for the motion of three bodies in Newton's theory of gravitation, and the difficulties increase with the number of bodies and the complexity of the theory. "

" In practice, however, the calculations are so complicated for systems containing more than a few electrons that we can no longer do them. "

" I think we have a good chance of discovering the laws that govern the whole universe."

" Unlike our intellect, computers double their power every 18 months. Therefore, the danger is real that they will develop intelligence and take over the world. "


Albert Einstein

1879 - 1955

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"Science tries to establish general rules, which determine the mutual connection of the things and events in space and time. For these rules, respectively laws of nature, general and unexceptional validity is demanded - not proved. "

" The word God is for me nothing but expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of venerable, but still richly primitive legends. "

" [...] If there is anything in me that could be called religious, it is an unbounded admiration of the structure of the world as far as our science can reveal it. "

" The majority of the stupid is insurmountable and secured for all time. "

" Imagination/imagination is more important than knowledge, because knowledge is limited [...]. "

" If someone takes pleasure in marching in line to music, I already despise him because he got his brain only because of an error; a spinal cord would have sufficed. "

 


Nikola Tesla

1856 - 1943

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" What worries me is not that they steal my ideas. What worries me is that they don't have any of their own."

"My brain is only a receiver; in the universe there is a core from which we receive knowledge, power and inspiration. I have not penetrated the secrets of this core, but I know that it exists."

"Every living being is a cog in the wheel of the universe. Although seemingly only its immediate environment is affected, every living being's sphere of influence extends an infinite distance."

"Most people are so absorbed in contemplating the outside world that they completely forget what is going on inside."


Thomas Edison

1847 - 1931

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" Success is a law of series and failures are intermediate results. If you keep going, you can't even prevent success at some point."

" I have not failed. I have only found 10000 ways that do not work."

" It is better to tackle imperfectly than to procrastinate perfectly."

" The three most important things to achieve anything worthwhile are: Hard work, perseverance and common sense. "


Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

1749 - 1832

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"I have now, alas! studied philosophy, law and medicine, and unfortunately also theology! Thoroughly studied, with endeavor. There I stand now, I poor fool! And am as wise as before. "

"The words are enough exchanged, let me also finally see deeds; while you turn compliments, something useful can happen. "

"To do good needs no deliberation. "

"Freedom! A fine word if you understand it right. "

"One lives only once in the world, has only once these powers, these prospects, and who does not use them for the best, who does not push himself as far as possible, is a fool. "

"Each one learns only what he can learn; but he who seizes the moment is the right man. "


Immanuel Kant

1724 - 1804

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"Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time wish that it should become a general law.

" It is true, then, that one can say that the senses do not err, but not because they always judge correctly, but because they do not judge at all. "

" It is never too late to become sensible and wise; but it is difficult at any time, when insight comes late, to get it going. "

"This much is certain: whoever has once tasted the Critique [of Pure Reason] is forever disgusted by all dogmatic linen, with which he previously made do out of necessity, because his reason was in need of something and could find nothing better for its entertainment. "


Benjamin Franklin

1706 - 1790

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" There has never been a good war or a bad peace"

" He who can give up essential liberty to effect a trifling mere respective security deserves neither liberty nor security."

" If time is the most precious of all, then waste of time is the very greatest waste."

" If we fulfill half of our wishes, we double our worries."


Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

1646 - 1716

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"He who seeks truth must not count the votes."

"He who has taught his pupils the ABC has done a greater deed than the general who has fought a battle."

"When I awoke, I already had so many ideas that the day was not enough to write them down."

"Clarity in words, usefulness in things."

 


Sir Isaac Newton

1643 - 1727

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" People build too many walls and too few bridges."

" What we know is a drop what we do not know - an ocean."

" For who wants to swim must go to the rivers."

" In science we all resemble only children who pick up a pebble here and there at the edge of knowledge while the vast ocean of the unknown stretches before our eyes. "


Galileo Galilei

1564 - 1642

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" He who understands geometry is able to understand everything in this world. "

" The book of nature is written with mathematical symbols."

" Curiosity always comes first in the problem that wants to be solved. "

" Nature is inexorable and unchangeable, and it is indifferent to her whether the hidden reasons and modes of her action are intelligible to man or not."

" Two truths can never contradict each other."


Leonardo Da Vinci

1452 - 1519

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" He who cannot do what he wants must want what he can. For to want what he cannot do would be foolish."

" Any little honesty is better than a big lie. " 

" Inequality is the cause of all local movements."

" He who does not value life does not deserve it "


Aristoteles

384 v. Chr. - 322 v. Chr.

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" Smart people also learn from their enemies."

"It is always the weaker who seek justice and equality, but the stronger do not care."

"Greed means that a person strives for something he does not possess. Envy, on the other hand, means that he is angry at what another possesses."

"Thinking and feeling are different by nature."


Confucius

551 v. Chr. - 479 v. Chr.

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" Demand much from yourself and expect little from others. In this way you will be spared trouble."

" He who has made one mistake and does not correct it, commits a second." 

" Man has three ways of acting wisely: by reflection is the noblest, by imitation the easiest, by experience the bitterest."

" What you tell me, I forget. What you show me, I remember. What you make me do, I understand."