Philosophy Quotes

"Every action is animated by some principle, whether good or bad."

"The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, but the kind of man the country turns out."

"The same principles that were supposed to have created a monarchy created a democracy."

"Every age is a dream that is dying, or one that is coming to birth."

"The best is the enemy of the good."

"Nothing is certain but death and taxes."

"All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move."

"The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion."

"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions."

"I defend the Bible not as a book dropped from the clouds but as a production of men."

"The undeserved miseries brought upon the world by superstition would make a volume as thick as the Bible."

"The condition of mankind is not usually displayed in a crowd, but is better to be found in the few."

"Virtue and happiness are the ultimate objects of philosophy."

"None of the key figures of the Enlightenment had much use for religion."

"I have always been of opinion that a man is not to judge for himself; and upon what principle he acts."

"The methods by which the advocates of the Constitution propose to attain its ends are as unobjectionable as the ends themselves are laudable."

"In the composition of human nature, there is a good deal of frailty and weakness; it is impossible to judge a man from what he is."

"I wish the Constitution which is offered had been made more perfect, but I sincerely believe it is the best that could be obtained at this time."

"If God designed a different constitution, different powers, and different capacities, there must be a purpose in them."

"The religious superstitions of women perpetuate their bondage more than all other adverse influences."

"The best heresy is Christianity unadulterated and unperverted by the gross superstitions of Rome."

"The object of all history is to show that a man can never have a true conception of anything until he has acted."

"I have always been animated by a profound conviction that the end of life must be a good."

"The flesh is subject to the law of God, and we must obey it or go naked."

"I have heard that all the Spiritualists believe God is everything."

"A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small parcel."

"I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they have made of the value of things."

"All human situations have their inconveniences."

"Mankind are very odd creatures."

"Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike."