Quotes tagged ‘Philosophy’

“Chidi: I just want to have a little chat about your progress. In the last homework assignment, I asked you to examine the ethics of 'Les Misérables,' in which a man steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving family. Would you please read your first paragraph here? Michael: 'Everyone in this story s…”

— Josh Siegal, Dylan Morgan, Michael, Ted Danson, imdb.com

“Actually, it is kind of clever how they punish philosophers. Every day, they make them go to school naked, and then they take a test in a class they've never been to. And then they smash them with hammers. And that part is not so clever.”

— Joe Mande, Jen Statsky, Michael, Ted Danson, imdb.com

“There are way more things I hate about Chidi than like about him. His stupid Clark Kent glasses, his extensive turtleneck collection, oh, and he loves ethics so much. He once talked about John Rawls for two hours... I timed it. And he only stopped because he saw me timing him. Granted, he laughed, a…”

— Demi Adejuyigbe, Eleanor Shellstrop, Kristen Bell, imdb.com

“There is no such thing as magic, just illusion. Things only change when we change them. But you have to do it skillfully, in secret. Then it seems like magic.”

— Jantje Friese, Martin Behnke, Mikkel Nielsen, Daan Lennard Liebrenz, imdb.com

“If I now change my past, I will change who I am right now.”

— Jantje Friese, Ronny Schalk, The Stranger, Andreas Pietschmann, imdb.com

“Our thinking is shaped by dualism. Entrance, exit. Black, white. Good, evil. Everything appears as opposite pairs. But that’s wrong.”

— Jantje Friese, Martin Behnke, H.G. Tannhaus, Christian Steyer, imdb.com

“We're not free in what we do, because we're not free in what we want. We can't overcome what's deep within us.”

— Jantje Friese, Ronny Schalk, The Stranger, Andreas Pietschmann, imdb.com

“Have you heard of Master Zhuang’s paradox? 'I dreamt I was a butterfly. Now I’ve woken up and I no longer know if I’m a person who dreamed he’s a butterfly or if I’m a butterfly who’s dreaming it’s a person.'”

— Jantje Friese, Ronny Schalk, Ines Kahnwald, Anne Ratte-Polle, imdb.com

“Why do we decide for one thing and against another? But does it matter whether the decision is based upon the consequence of a series of causal links? Or that instead it stems from an undefined feeling inside me? Perhaps everything in my life boils down to this one moment. That I’m part of this puzz…”

— Jantje Friese, Ronny Schalk, H.G. Tannhaus, Christian Steyer, imdb.com

“Aristotle approves of food, drink and sex (all in moderation – he’s big on moderation); he believes leisure is more important than work; that we all have innate talents and that we don’t peak until we’re 49. What’s not to like?”

— Lisa Allardice, theguardian.com

“When I behold the scientific and so-called philosophers full of selfish feelings, and of a tenency to war against circumstances and Providence, I say to myself: They are not true priests, they are but half prophets — it not absolutely false ones. They have read the great page simply with the physica…”

— Ada Lovelace, en.wikiquote.org

“Any philosophy, whether of a religious or political nature—and sometimes the dividing line is hard to determine—fights less for the negative destruction of the opposing ideology than for the positive promotion of its own. Hence its struggle is less defensive than offensive. It therefore has the adva…”

— Adolf Hitler, amazon.com

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art....It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”

— C. S. Lewis, amazon.com

“If you obsess over whether you are making the right decision, you are basically assuming that the universe will reward you for one thing and punish you for another. The universe has no fixed agenda. Once you make any decision, it works around that decision. There is no right or wrong, only a series…”

— Deepak Chopra, amazon.com

“You could perhaps say ‘happiness’ but ‘happiness’ is misleading, for it suggests continuous chirpiness and joy, whereas ‘fulfillment’ seems compatible with a lot of pain and suffering, which every decent life must by necessity have.”

— Alain de Botton, dailystoic.com

“To study philosophy is nothing but to prepare one’s self to die.”

— Marcus Tullius Cicero, essays.quotidiana.org

“The central fallacy in modern life is that accomplishments can produce deep satisfaction. That's false.”

— David Brooks, amazon.com

“The average college GPA for a self-made millionaire is somewhere in the low B range. But at some crucial point in their lives, somebody told them they were too stupid to do something and they set out to prove the bastards wrong.”

— David Brooks, amazon.com

“Love is the strongest kind of army because it generates no resistance.”

— David Brooks, amazon.com

“Self-respect is not the same as self-confidence or self-esteem. Self-respect is not based on IQ or any of the mental or physical gifts that help get you into a competitive college. It is not comparative. It is not earned by being better than other people at something. It is earned by being better th…”

— David Brooks, amazon.com