By Maxime Lagacé
Maxime is the founder of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm and peaceful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.
Here are 115 of the best philosophy quotes that will teach you more than a philosophy class.
What’s the goal?
To make you think deeply, but most importantly, to help you find a new philosophy of life from these great philosophers.
You’ll learn from Einstein, Goethe, Aristotle, Nietzsche, Thoreau, MLK, and many more.
Enjoy!
Philosophy is the science of truth. Aristotle
Science is what you know. Philosophy is what you don’t know. Bertrand Russell
Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it. Epictetus
The philosopher’s product is his life. Friedrich Nietzsche
My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate – that’s my philosophy. Thornton Wilder
Philosophy teaches us to act, not to speak. Seneca
We have philosophy professors, but no philosophers. Henry David Thoreau
Learn to ask of all actions, “Why are they doing that?”, starting with your own. Marcus Aurelius
To live without philosophizing is in truth the same as keeping the eyes closed without attempting to open them. René Descartes
Philosophy, n. A route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing. Ambrose Bierce
History is philosophy teaching by examples. Thucydides
Philosophy is at once the most sublime and the most trivial of human pursuits. William James
Philosophy is trying to make sense of what doesn’t. Maxime Lagacé
Astonishment is the root of philosophy. Paul Tillich
The three great things of life are: good health; work; and a philosophy of life. Jack London
Related
- Thought of the Day – 150 Inspiring Quotes For Reflection
- 500 Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes On Life, Friendship, Success
- 87 Deep Quotes That Will Make You Think
The Best Philosophy Quotes
Every man bears the whole stamp of the human condition. Michel de Montaigne
Be a philosopher but, amid all your philosophy be still a man. David Hume
I study myself more than any other subject. That is my metaphysics, that is my physics. Michel de Montaigne
Philosophy is man’s expression of curiosity about everything and his attempt to make sense of the world primarily through his intellect. Alan Watts
We are too weak to discover the truth by reason alone. Augustine of Hippo
Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language. Ludwig Wittgenstein
A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion. Francis Bacon
For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you. Neil deGrasse Tyson
We study science to learn how to get what we want. We study philosophy to know what to want in the first place. Naval Ravikant
My philosophy is: It’s none of my business what people say of me and think of me. I am what I am and I do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. And it makes life so much easier. Anthony Hopkins
There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers. William James
Philosophy consists very largely of one philosopher arguing that all others are jackasses. He usually proves it, and I should add that he also usually proves that he is one himself. H. L. Mencken
There is no good or bad without us, there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means. Ryan Holiday
Philosophy is itself the disease for which it pretends to be the cure: the wise man does not pursue wisdom but lives his life, and therein precisely does his wisdom lie. Bruce Lee
Just as eating cow meat doesn’t turn you into a cow, studying philosophy doesn’t make you wiser. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute. Ayn Rand
The best philosophy of life I’ve found is this: just keep going. Maxime Lagacé
The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it. Bertrand Russell (The Philosophy of Logical Atomism, Amazon book)
What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows. Epictetus
A philosopher who is not taking part in discussions is like a boxer who never goes into the ring. Ludwig Wittgenstein
A wise man does not converse for the sake of displaying his own intelligence. James Pierce
To philosophize is to learn how to die or to rise to divinity. Karl Jaspers
Real philosophy is to learn to see the world again. Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Part 2. Philosophy Quotes That Are…
The Most Famous Philosophy Quotes
Searching for a famous philosophy quote? Check out those by Einstein, Plato, Aristotle, Beethoven, Montaigne, etc.
Her philosophy is carpe diem for herself and laissez faire for others. F. Scott Fitzgerald
I do not at all believe in human freedom in the philosophical sense. Everybody acts not only under external compulsion but also in accordance with inner necessity. Albert Einstein
I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. John Adams
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Theodore Roosevelt
My condition is not unhappiness, but it is also not happiness, not indifference, not weakness, not fatigue, not another interest – so what is it then? Franz Kafka
Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents. Ludwig van Beethoven
To have no time for philosophy is to be a true philosopher. Blaise Pascal
My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment. Oprah Winfrey
This is patently absurd; but whoever wishes to become a philosopher must learn not to be frightened by absurdities. Bertrand Russell
In the eyes of dialectical philosophy, nothing is established for all times, nothing is absolute or sacred. Karl Marx
How slow men are in matters when they believe they have time and how swift they are when necessity drives them to it. Niccolò Machiavelli
Anyone who studies present and ancient affairs will easily see how in all cities and all peoples there still exist, and have always existed, the same desires and passions. Niccolò Machiavelli
There will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands. Plato
There is something of a civil war going on within all of our lives. There is a recalcitrant South of our soul revolting against the North of our soul. And there is this continual struggle within the very structure of every individual life. Martin Luther King Jr
Philosophy triumphs easily over past evils and future evils; but present evils triumph over it. François de la Rochefoucauld
Broadly speaking, human beings may be divided into three classes: those who are toiled to death, those who are worried to death, and those are bored to death. Winston Churchill
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what people say. I just watch what they do. Andrew Carnegie
By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher. Socrates
Poetry is something more philosophic and serious than history; for poetry speaks of what is universal, history of what is particular. Aristotle
To live alone one must be an animal or a God – says Aristotle. There is yet a third case: one must be both – a philosopher. Friedrich Nietzsche
If a man’s good for nothing else, he can at least teach philosophy. William James
But people themselves alter so much, that there is something new to be observed in them for ever. Jane Austen
A good philosopher makes a bad citizen. Napoleon Bonaparte
Related: What is Philosophy for? (5-minute YouTube video)
Inspirational Philosophy Quotes
Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it. Karl Marx
Practice the philosophy of continuous improvement. Get a little bit better every single day. Brian Tracy
I think everybody should study ants. They have an amazing four-part philosophy. Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can. Jim Rohn
Behavior is a mirror in which everyone shows his image. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The endpoint of philosophy is childlike wonder. James Pierce (Source)
It surprises me how disinterested we are today about things like physics, space, the universe and philosophy of our existence, our purpose, our final destination. It’s a crazy world out there. Be curious. Stephen Hawking
To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school…it is to solve some of the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically. Henry David Thoreau
To teach how to live without certainty, and yet without being paralysed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy, in our age, can still do for those who study it. Bertrand Russell
The perfection of wisdom, and the end of true philosophy is to proportion our wants to our possessions, our ambitions to our capacities, we will then be a happy and a virtuous people. Mark Twain
Jokes of the proper kind, properly told, can do more to enlighten questions of politics, philosophy, and literature than any number of dull arguments. Isaac Asimov
This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness. 14th Dalai Lama
No one should postpone the study of philosophy when he is young, nor should he wear of it when he becomes mature, for the search for mental health is never untimely or out of season. Epicurus
To say that the time to study philosophy has not yet arrived or that it is past is like saying that the time for happiness is not yet at hand, or is no longer present. Epicurus
The ones who let go are the ones who stay sane. Maxime Lagacé
Whatever has value in our world now does not have value in itself, according to its nature – nature is always value-less, but has been given value at some time, as a present – and it was we who gave and bestowed it. Friedrich Nietzsche (The Gay Science)
Intuition does not in itself amount to knowledge, yet cannot be disregarded by philosophers and psychologists. Corliss Lamont
There are three classes of men; the retrograde, the stationary and the progressive. Johann Kaspar Lavater
Always look at what people do, not who they are. Gloria Steinem (My Life on the Road, Amazon book)
Deep Philosophy Quotes
We are biological machines programmed to survive and replicate. Happy is anti-evolution. Naval Ravikant
To be human is above all to be sensitive. Alan Watts
It’s ok to not have a strong opinion on everything. Zuby
Of all people only those are at leisure who make time for philosophy, only they truly live. Not satisfied to merely keep good watch over their own days, they annex every age to their own. Seneca
A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes. Ludwig Wittgenstein
A fool’s brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education. George Bernard Shaw
The things which philosophy attempts to teach by reasoning, poverty forces us to practice. Diogenes
Desire, fundamentally, is a response to a feeling of incompleteness. James Pierce
Unexamined desires run rampant throughout the life of the average person. With these desires comes pain. James Pierce
A human being wants something that will fill the holes he feels within himself. James Pierce
We like explanations, we like theories, we indulge in speculative philosophy and we are carried away by all that. Jiddu Krishnamurti
Experience has shown, and a true philosophy will always show, that a vast, perhaps the larger portion of the truth arises from the seemingly irrelevant. Edgar Allan Poe
The right philosophy is the one that will make you move forward. Maxime Lagacé
Are you actually living or is it the past living in the present? Jiddu Krishnamurti
It’s touching that almost everyone you meet, however outwardly accomplished, craves reassurance you like them and think they’re doing OK. Alain de Botton
There is no statement so absurd that no philosopher will make it. Cicero
There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people. G.K. Chesterton
Related: Six Ideas From Eastern Philosophy (8-minute YouTube video by The School of Life)
Wise Philosophy Quotes
Read philosophy. It is not for the old, but for the young to learn how to live. Thibaut
Inner peace is the final stage of philosophy. Maxime Lagacé
To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
You know you have influence when people start noticing your absence more than the presence of others. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Loyalty to a petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul. Mark Twain
Absurdity is one of the most human things about us: a manifestation of our most advanced and interesting characteristics. Thomas Nagel (Mortal Questions, Amazon book)
The strongest intellectual foundation is built upon science, math, and philosophy, as they are the search for universal truths. Naval Ravikant
The only people we can think of as normal are those we don’t yet know very well. Alain de Botton
There may be significant things to learn about people by looking at what annoys them most. Alain de Botton
The desire to belong often overpowers the desire to improve. James Clear
Generally speaking, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous. David Hume
The hunger for facile wisdom is the root of all false philosophy. George Santanaya
Related: EASTERN PHILOSOPHY – The Buddha (6-minute YouTube video by The School of Life)
Part 3. Conclusion
The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next. Henry Ward Beecher
If you live long enough, you become a philosopher because you start trying to solve the big problems in your life. The big problems are the old ones — the ones we’ve been trying to solve since the beginning: How do I stay happy? How do I become healthy? How do I become wealthy? How do I raise the family I want? Naval Ravikant
Last words
As a lover of quotes, psychology, and philosophy myself, I’ve always been fascinated by how the old philosophers viewed life and how they dealt with it.
It seems a lost art nowadays to ponder deep philosophical and existential questions.
Happily, we still have access to those beautiful words.
In a sense, it’s reassuring and guiding to know how people like Nietzsche or Einstein approached their lives and struggles.
Like Buddha said, life is suffering and without a way of life and a philosophy of life, it can be hard to navigate it.
Further Readings
- Topic: Life
- 75 Words of Wisdom From The Best Minds (Ever)
- 100 Decision Quotes For Better Decision Making (And Life)
- 77 Life Lessons Quotes (To Learn And Grow)
- Marcus Aurelius — How to Live A Good Life (6-minute YouTube video)
- 205 Philosophical Questions – A huge list of thought-provoking questions (conversationstartersworld.com)
- 73 Life Is Short Quotes To Help You Live To The Fullest
- 57 Life Goes On Quotes That Will Move You
- 21 Life-Changing Questions To Ask Yourself Today
Hope you enjoyed these beautiful philosophy quotes. If you did, please share them with a friend today!
What’s your favorite philosophy quote? And remember: words can transform your life, if you find the right ones.
Table Of Contents
Part 1
Top 15 Images
Best Quotes
Part 2
Quotes That ARE
Famous
Inspirational
Deep
Wise
Part 3
Conclusion