40 phrases by Denis Diderot to delve into the ideas of this philosopher

We are much more likely to pick up the vices than the virtues of our associates.

From fanaticism to barbarism is just one step away.

They say that desire is a product of will, but the opposite is true: will is a product of desire.

You waste time as if you had taken from a full and abundant supply.

We are all instruments endowed with feeling and memory. Our senses are strings that are played by objects around us and that also frequently touch each other.

We greedily swallow any lie that flatters us, but little by little we sip a truth we find bitter.

People stop thinking when they stop reading.

Oh! How close are genius and madness! Men imprison and chain them, or erect statues for them.

Almost nothing is retained without the help of words, and words are almost never enough to convey precisely what one feels.

Our truest opinions are not the ones we never change, but the ones we return to most often.

Beware of an unbalanced distribution of wealth that will produce a small number of wealthy citizens and a horde of poor citizens.

There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient.

What was never questioned was not proven.

Concise sentences are like sharp nails that force the truth into our memory.

Every man has his dignity. I’m willing to forget mine, but at my discretion and not when someone tells me to.

There is only one duty: to be happy.

All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard to anyone’s feelings.

Each century has a spirit that characterizes it: the spirit of ours seems to be that of freedom.

No man has received from nature the right to command his fellow men.

Cholera harms the rest of life and the health of the body; It dazzles understanding and blinds reason.

It is madness to run the risk of going mad out of vanity.

Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.

The money of fools is the wealth of the smart.

The most dangerous madmen are those created by religion, and people whose aim is to disrupt society always know how to put them to good use every now and then.

I give my mind the freedom to follow the first wise or foolish idea that presents itself.

Prudence in no way guaranteed us success, but it consoled us and excused us in failure.

Poetry must have something barbaric, vast and wild.

Remember what you do; if you cheat on me once, i’ll never believe you again.

No matter how much a man may study, reflect, and meditate on all the books in the world, he is nothing more than a minor scribe, unless he has read the great book.

They must demand that I look for the truth, not find it.

You live as if you were destined to live forever.

To shake a hypothesis, sometimes it is not necessary to do anything but push it as far as possible.

What is a monster? A being whose survival is incompatible with the existing order.

The happiest are the people who give the most happiness to others.

How many wisely conceived projects have failed and will fail in the future! How many insane projects have succeeded and will succeed!

Skepticism is the first step towards the truth.

Wisdom is none other than the science of happiness.

Nothing is duller than an ordinary chord progression. It takes some contrast, which breaks the bright white light and makes it iridescent.

I am totally yours, you are everything to me. We will sustain ourselves in all the ills of life that fate may inflict on us. You will ease my troubles; I will comfort you in yours.