262 Quotes by Denis Diderot

Posterity for the philosopher is what the other world is for the religious man.

I like better for one to say some foolish thing upon important matters than to be silent. That becomes the subject of discussion and dispute, and the truth is discovered.

What has not been examined impartially has not been well examined. Skepticism is therefore the first step towards truth.

All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone's feelings... We must run roughshod over all these ancient puerilities, overturn the barriers that reason never erected, give back to the arts and sciences the liberty that is so precious to them.

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

Sentences are like sharp nails, which force truth upon our memories.

Mankind have banned the Divinity from their presence; they have relegated him to a sanctuary; the walls of the temple restrict his view; he does not exist outside of it.

Gaiety - a quality of ordinary men. Genius always presupposes some disorder in the machine.

If your little savage were left to himself and be allowed to retain all his ignorance, he would in time join the infant's reasoning to the grown man's passion, he would strangle his father and sleep with his mother.