Philosophy Quotes

Questions about meaning, existence, and truth from thinkers who spent their lives searching for answers.

43879 quotes

L
"Every person is shaped by their historical moment."
Lucien Febvre
L
"Every age believes its crises are unique."
Lucien Febvre
L
"Every moment contains the seeds of the future."
Lucien Febvre
L
"The past teaches us about ourselves."
Lucien Febvre
L
"History teaches that we are products of our time."
Lucien Febvre
J
"Time itself is a human construct, shaped by our culture and beliefs."
Jacques Le Goff
J
"The study of history is ultimately the study of human nature."
Jacques Le Goff
J
"To write history is to take a stance on what matters."
Jacques Le Goff
J
"Philosophy teaches us how to live; history teaches us why we must."
Jacques Le Goff
"Geography is destiny."
Fernand Braudel
"Philosophy examines the eternal questions."
Fernand Braudel
"Economics determines social structure."
Fernand Braudel
"The present emerges from the past."
Fernand Braudel
"Systems perpetuate themselves through habit."
Fernand Braudel
"Structures shape individual destiny."
Fernand Braudel
"Morality evolves with civilization."
Fernand Braudel
O
"The West is tired. Its people have lost faith in themselves and their future."
Oswald Spengler
O
"The highest culture is always the product of decline."
Oswald Spengler
O
"The human heart desires permanence in a universe of flux."
Oswald Spengler
A
"The individual is insignificant compared to the sweep of history, yet each individual carries history within them."
Arnold Toynbee
A
"The collapse of a civilization often begins with the collapse of its moral foundations."
Arnold Toynbee
A
"Every age believes itself to be modern; every age is blind to its own limitations."
Arnold Toynbee
A
"History teaches that human nature contains both magnificent potential and terrible capacity for harm."
Arnold Toynbee
A
"Every civilization must confront the question: what is worth preserving and what must change?"
Arnold Toynbee
M
"Every known human society recognizes and has rules about the giving and receiving of gifts."
Margaret Mead
M
"We are all the result of the cultures we grew up in."
Margaret Mead
M
"Individuality is the most valued thing in Western culture."
Margaret Mead
M
"Philosophy asks the questions that science cannot yet answer."
Margaret Mead
C
"Modern man has sacrificed depth for breadth, meaning for information."
Christopher Dawson
C
"Culture without religion becomes a museum of dead forms."
Christopher Dawson