Philosophy Quotes

"The ethical relation is anarchic, without origin or foundation."

"The ethical relation does not emerge from knowledge."

"Being human means being answerable to the Other."

"The face of the Other is the origin of meaning."

"The ethical relation is prior to all politics."

"The Other's transcendence cannot be transgressed."

"To know the Other is impossible; to be obligated to the Other is necessary."

"I am never finished with my obligation to the Other."

"Being is called into question by the Other."

"To ignore the Other's call is to ignore our own humanity."

"Responsibility cannot be delegated or evaded."

"The Other challenges every absolute claim."

"The ethical relation is the foundation of meaning."

"To be human is to be traumatized by the Other's alterity."

"Responsibility is the price of being human."

"We are bound to the Other by invisible threads of obligation."

"The Other is the source of all meaning and value."

"The human being is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be respected."

"Speech is an act of creation that shapes reality."

"The question is often more important than the answer."

"Philosophy is the ongoing dialogue with fundamental questions."

"Humans cannot bear to live without meaning, and in our modern age we have lost the traditional meanings that religion provided."

"If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion."

"The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented hell."

"Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so."

"The savage bows down to idols of wood and stone; the civilized man bows down to idols of flesh and blood."

"Whoever wishes to become a philosopher must learn not to be frightened by absurdities."

"The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty. The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense."

"Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim."

"The question of free will is one of the most important from a philosophical standpoint, yet it has been exhaustively discussed without any approach to unanimous opinion."