If there is one realm in which it is essential to be sublime, it is in wickedness. You spit on a petty thief, but you can't deny a kind of respect for the great criminal.

Quote by Denis Diderot

Topics: Denis Diderot Quotes

Gratitude is a burden, and every burden is made to be shaken off.

Gratitude is a burden, and every burden is made to be shaken off.

Justice is the first virtue of those who command, and stops the complaints of those...

Justice is the first virtue of those who command, and stops the complaints of those...

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

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

If you want me to believe in God, you must make me touch him.

If you want me to believe in God, you must make me touch him.

The pit of a theatre is the one place where the tears of virtuous and...

The pit of a theatre is the one place where the tears of virtuous and...

I can be expected to look for truth but not to find it

I can be expected to look for truth but not to find it

Justice is the first virtue of those who command, and stops the complaints of those...

Justice is the first virtue of those who command, and stops the complaints of those...

The infant runs toward it with its eyes closed, the adult is stationary, the old...

The infant runs toward it with its eyes closed, the adult is stationary, the old...

There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge... observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation...

There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge... observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation...

In order to shake a hypothesis, it is sometimes not necessary to do anything more...

In order to shake a hypothesis, it is sometimes not necessary to do anything more...

People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it. It freezes you...

People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it. It freezes you...

We are far more liable to catch the vices than the virtues of our associates

We are far more liable to catch the vices than the virtues of our associates

Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of...

Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of...

We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little...

We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little...

The best mannered people make the most absurd lovers.

The best mannered people make the most absurd lovers.

We are all instruments endowed with feeling and memory. Our senses are so many strings...

We are all instruments endowed with feeling and memory. Our senses are so many strings...

The general interest of the masses might take the place of the insight of genius...

The general interest of the masses might take the place of the insight of genius...

The possibility of divorce renders both marriage partners stricter in their observance of the duties...

The possibility of divorce renders both marriage partners stricter in their observance of the duties...

You have to make it happen.

You have to make it happen.

It is said that desire is a product of the will, but the converse is...

It is said that desire is a product of the will, but the converse is...