Denis Diderot (1713–84) was a French philosopher, art critic and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment, and is best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor and contributor to the Encyclopédie along with Jean le Rond d’Alembert.
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The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers.
—Denis Diderot
Topics: Philosophy, Science
No man has received from nature the right to give orders to others. Freedom is a gift from heaven, and every individual of the same species has the right to enjoy it as soon as he is in enjoyment of his reason.
—Denis Diderot
Topics: Freedom
We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.
—Denis Diderot
The arbitrary rule of a just and enlightened prince is always bad. His virtues are the most dangerous and the surest form of seduction: they lull a people imperceptibly into the habit of loving, respecting, and serving his successor, whoever that successor may be, no matter how wicked or stupid.
—Denis Diderot
Genius is present in every age, but the men carrying it within them remain benumbed unless extraordinary events occur to heat up and melt the mass so that it flows forth.
—Denis Diderot
Topics: Genius
What has not been examined impartially has not been well examined. Skepticism is therefore the first step toward truth.
—Denis Diderot
Topics: Trust
When we know how to read our own hearts, we acquire wisdom of the hearts of others.
—Denis Diderot
Topics: Wisdom
The best doctor is the one you run to and can’t find.
—Denis Diderot
Topics: Medicine
Virtue is praised, but hated. People run from it, for it is ice-cold and in this world you have to keep your feet warm.
—Denis Diderot
Topics: Virtue
His hands would plait the priests guts, if he had no rope, to strangle kings.
—Denis Diderot
People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it. It freezes you to death, and in this world you’ve got to keep your feet warm.
—Denis Diderot
Topics: Virtues, Virtue
Ignorance is less remote from the truth than prejudice.
—Denis Diderot
Topics: Prejudice
Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.
—Denis Diderot
Topics: Enthusiasm, Romance
In order to shake a hypothesis, it is sometimes not necessary to do anything more than push it as far as it will go.
—Denis Diderot
Topics: Theory
Doctors are always working to preserve our health and cooks to destroy it, but the latter are the more often successful.
—Denis Diderot
Topics: Health
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