Philosophical phrases. The most famous sayings of philosophers (not all)

How often does a person say something really smart and valuable? Certainly much less often than all sorts of stupid phrases. But, as the Bible tells us, in the beginning was the Word. It is it that allows us to maximize our thought and convey it to others.

As a rule, beautiful phrases that carry in themselves appear in the head of smart and great people. It is customary to quote them and call them aphorisms. Let's see the selection best quotes on a variety of topics.

Folk wisdom of Europe

We do not always know for sure the author of any aphorism. They may be "people from the people." So, a simple man somehow expressed an idea in a conversation - and here is a ready-made quote, already going to the people. Abstruse phrases were not included in such a set of words. People preferred something simple and concise that could be quickly picked up as a compelling argument or to support their opinion.

This is how proverbs and sayings appeared in the world. They are an important part of folklore. They, in fact, show the entire mentality of the author's people. There are Russian phrases that have sunk into the soul and are very often repeated in the daily vocabulary.

The European tradition of proverbs and sayings is very similar to ours in meaning and content. How can this be explained? Of course, our highly bound historical past and a common monotheistic religion. If you wish, you can easily find analogues of Russian morality within the folklore of other European peoples.

As can be seen from the comparative table, the meaning of the listed smart phrases is the same, despite the fact that they are present in the lexical use of peoples of different countries.

Folk wisdom of other countries

When confronted with the cultural heritage of immigrants from other continents, an equally immense source of wisdom is revealed. These abstruse phrases carry a lot of information, convey the meaning of the life of these people, their history and allow us to better understand their mentality.

For example, residents of Europe and Russia are well aware that a real man does not cry. A true husband should not express his emotions in public, especially grief and disappointment. And on its own you should not "dissolve the nuns", you just need to take and do the job. However, the Indians from North America look at us with a grin because of this:

  • "A strong man cries, a weak man does not."
  • "The weak is afraid of his feelings."
  • "The soul does not have a rainbow if there are no tears in the eyes."

This is how this people, who always lived in the wilderness and did not know enlightenment, treated the manifestations of emotions - as a natural need for any creature. Maybe you should listen to these wise phrases expressed by representatives of the native population of America?

Using the deep thought of the Chinese as an example, one can understand how differently we see, know and feel the world. Often the philosophical phrases of the people of the Celestial Empire are so different from what we are accustomed to consider as wisdom that we are amazed - how can you feel the same land so differently?

This is how the Chinese speak of the importance of a person, his "I", which, according to the philosophy of Tao, does not exist at all:

  • "If you are, nothing has increased, if you are not, nothing has disappeared."

For Europeans and Russians, this sounds not only incomprehensible, but sad and depressing.

In addition, the search for peace is of great importance for the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom. For them, he is a secret goal that a person should strive for in order to become one with nature. That is why the interesting phrases of this country are closely related to the description of trees and flowers. They often use the reference to spring.

The Chinese attach great importance to harmony and unity. The whole world in their view is just an echo of the Tao River, which flows in some other dimension.

They are sure that at the end of the path, everyone is the same, regardless of who they were in this life. This is evidenced by many of their sayings.

Quotes about power

Since the time of primitive existence, man wants to be higher than others, longs to stand at the head of the tribe. He dreams of commanding, managing, because he is sure that he knows everything better than anyone else. Power is a terrible force, and not everyone deserves it. However, the desire to achieve high status is one of those qualities thanks to which people changed our whole world.

The authorities were especially revered in Antiquity, mainly in Ancient Rome, where civic activity was placed above all else. Interesting phrases we could hear from the mouths of the people of that time:

  • “I'd rather be the first in this village than the second in Rome” (Guy Julius Caesar, while stopping for the night in a small village).
  • “To rule is to fulfill duties” (Seneca).
  • “Before you begin to command, learn to obey” (Solon of Athens).

In the future, the thirst for power never let go of humanity from its tenacious embrace. She becomes the object of the statements of many politicians, writers and public figures. Each of them (like any other person, isn't it?) Was worried about the issues of power. Perhaps, due to their wisdom, they found answers to some of them, from which we can also learn by looking at their clever phrases:

  • “Violence, if it allows itself to hesitate, becomes power” (Elias Canetti).
  • “A minister should not complain about newspapers or even read them - he should write them” (Charles de Gaulle).
  • "Power is given only to those who dare to bend over and take it" (Fyodor Dostoevsky).

Many later, after the Middle Ages, saw power as the root of all troubles - both in the need to obey and in the desire to command. Philosophers and writers agreed that all people are equal, and the very concept of a world order, where one person can order another, is contrary to our high nature.

Alas! Humanity is still stuck at the level where power is the most important engine of human emotion. People cannot imagine how one can disobey.

Quotes about war

However, one must also fight for power. After all, other people very, very much want to take it away. When two endless desires for power collide, war breaks out.

Humanity has succeeded in waging wars, and abstruse phrases about them flow like a river. This is what people do most often. They learn to fight from an early age, and therefore war takes a lot of place in their minds. Some praise her, others give advice on how to avoid military conflicts, while others are ironic.

That war cripples billions of lives, destroys thousands of countries, erases millions of cities and cultures from the face of the earth, it will always find a place in someone's head. And the longer humanity has existed, the more it realizes how much destructive energy war generates. More and more we are trying to get rid of it. Declare war on war.

Before, people talked about how great it is to fight. How much true courage, valor, courage and patriotism are manifested in this. Now we are approaching the point where people realize that killing another person will never bring anything good.

  • "War ... War Never Changes" (Fallout, video game).
  • “Generals are a striking case of developmental delays. Who among us has not dreamed of being a general at the age of five? " (Peter Ustinov).
  • “I don’t know a single people who would have been enriched as a result of victory in the war” (Voltaire).
  • “If we want to enjoy the world, we have to fight” (Cicero).

Friendship quotes

Since ancient times, friendship is getting rid of loneliness, salvation and support. And betrayal is the most terrible sin, according to the majority of the peoples of the world. Take Dante, for example - weren't the traitors tormented in his worst, ninth circle of Hell?

Honoring friendship has found an important reflection in every culture in the world. Many considered it necessary to notice its importance. Phrases with meaning, telling about the strength of friendships, are very often found in the sayings of great philosophers and writers of different times. Among them are such great names as Socrates, Aristotle, Johann Schiller, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain. All of them skillfully focus on the quality of friendly relations.

  • “Friendship is not such a pitiful flame to go out in separation” (Johann Schiller).

Quotes about love

Love has always had power over people. And sometimes it captured more than friendship, forcing it to overstep the principles. A person has a hard time without her. This feeling was visited by millions of people. The wiser they were, the more it consumed them. Poets and musicians, writers and playwrights - many wrote only about her, about love. Abstruse phrases do not suit her, only sincerity and honesty suit her.

At the same time, it became a topic for speculation, material for excellent manipulation. Thousands of monotonous works impose the image of false, nonsensual, "obligatory" love in everyone's life. But what does the real one look like? Clever phrases great people left us about this:

  • "To resist love is to supply it with new weapons" (Georges Sand).

Freedom quotes

The desire of a person to be free manifests itself with different strengths in different eras. No matter how often people now forget about it, the desire to escape from someone's control and power lives in every person. And this is despite so many prevailing factors: war makes him a slave, friendship with someone bad takes away all his strength, and false love forever deprives him of sleep and requires submission.

And only by getting rid of all these misfortunes, you can become free. And it is to this freedom that people always strive, it is for it that they are ready to die. people are forced to think: how free are we?

This supreme struggle- for her will - is directed precisely at the first, bestial and herd line - the desire for power. And when every person, even the smallest, kills the king inside himself, and when everyone starts to "squeeze out the slave drop by drop," then we will be able to talk about the free world. A world where everyone has the right to make mistakes. Where one person cannot kill another, not because he will be punished for it, but because he does not give himself an inner right to do so.

  • "The people, accustomed to living under the rule of the sovereign and thanks to chance, became free, with difficulty preserves freedom" (Nicolo Machiavelli).
  • “The one who sacrifices freedom for the sake of security does not deserve either freedom or security” (Benjamin Franklin).
  • “Only by losing everything to the end, we gain freedom” (Chuck Palahniuk).

Quotes about the meaning of life

Every person from time to time asks: "In the name of what do we exist and have come into this world?" Phrases about the meaning of life probably have more mysteries than answers. You can argue with them and not share the opinions of their authors. And this is correct, since the answer to this question is individual for each person. And his future, goals and desires depend on what he will be like.

However, this does not hurt to listen to more smart people... Expressions and phrases of those who were looking for the meaning of being can help us and direct us in the right direction.

  • “The meaning of life is to achieve perfection and tell others about it” (Richard Bach).

Funny quotes

And what is left for a person to do when he has renounced his thirst for power and war, made loyal friends, learned true love, gained freedom and found the meaning of life? Of course, one thing is to laugh with happiness.

Despite all sorts of clever phrases, human life, above all, is incredibly funny. In all its tragedy, sorrow, need, it continues to be funny. But only thin people understood this with all their hearts. For example, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov knew how to laugh at his own grief: “How so! There are so many terrible and bad things in our life, but it is declared that it is funny! " As if he, feeding the whole family with the daily work of a writer in his youth, dying of consumption, burying his brothers, never tasted the taste of grief ... But the fact of the matter is that with what stronger man- the more he is capable of being ironic about his troubles.

And great and wise people understood this. None of those whose beautiful phrases presented above, never missed an opportunity to joke. Laughter is the main proof of a human being alive with a soul. Here are some of their famous ironic remarks:

  • “I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to get it wrong.” - Benjamin Franklin.
  • “Murderers and architects always return to the scene of the crime” (Peter Ustinov).

Conclusion

Phrases with a meaning that is deeply hidden in them will never lose their relevance. Such are they in themselves - aphorisms, an important part of human culture. After all, how much intelligence is needed to fit your strong message into one or two sentences! Only for this mastery of rhetoric and eloquence can a person be called wise.

After all, this is such a big work - a well-cut phrase. Examples clearly show that people have always, at all times, worried about the same thing. Human nature is unchanged and, apparently, will still be. long time... Therefore, quotes, aphorisms and proverbs will remain an inexhaustible source of the main treasure - mind and wisdom.

V recent times the fashion for philosophical statements is gaining momentum. Often people use wise sayings as statuses in social networks... They help the author of the page to express his attitude to the current reality, to tell others about his mood and, of course, to tell the society about the peculiarities of his worldview.

What is a philosophical statement

The word "philosophy" should be understood as "love for wisdom." This is a special way of knowing being. Based on this, philosophical statements should be understood as sayings according to the most general issues concerning the understanding of the world, life, human existence, relationships. These include both the thoughts of famous people and the reasoning of unknown authors.

about life

Sayings of this kind express an attitude towards the meaning of life, success, the relationship of events with a person, and the peculiarities of thinking.

The reasoning that life circumstances are a consequence of our thoughts is very popular nowadays. Guided in his actions by good thoughts, a person constantly feels the joy of being.

Observations of this nature are found in Buddhist literature, which says that our life is the result of our thoughts. If a person speaks and acts with kindness, joy follows him like a shadow.

It is impossible not to note the question of the importance of a person's personal responsibility in what happens to him. For example, A.S. Green expresses the idea that our life is not changed by chance, but by what is in us.

There are also less specific philosophical statements. Alexis Tocqueville notes that life is not suffering or pleasure, but is a matter that must be completed.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is very short and wise in his statements. He emphasizes the value of life, noting that it cannot be "rewritten to belovik". Our compatriot considers struggle to be the meaning of his stay on Earth.

Arianna Huffington says that life is about risk and we only grow up in risky situations. The biggest risk is allowing yourself to love, to open up to another person.

Very briefly and correctly, he said about luck: "Those who are lucky are lucky." Any success is the result of hard work and the implementation of a correctly chosen strategy.

Ancient Greek philosophy can teach us a lot today. The worldview of ancient philosophers is striking in its optimism, virtue and wisdom. Below in the quotes are 9 life principles that were professed by the most famous ancient philosophers Ancient Greece.

  1. Do everything with unconditional love.

A person should do what he loves. Only in this case will he succeed. Better to be a good carpenter than a bad banker. Sincere love for your work is a vocation.

"Joyfully done work leads to excellence."- Aristotle.

"It is better to do a small part of the job perfectly than to do it ten times more badly."- Aristotle

"Never do what you are not familiar with, but learn everything there is to know"- Pythagoras

"Each person is worth exactly as much as the business for which he cares"- Epicurus.

"Where a person is resisting, there is his prison"- Epictetus.

  1. Do not murmur, do not lose heart, do not live in the past.

The biggest obstacle for a person in this world is himself. Other obstacles and unfavorable circumstances are the reason for looking for new opportunities and unexpected ideas.

"A person who is dissatisfied with a little is not satisfied with anything"- Epicurus.

"Leaving a foreign land, do not turn around"- Pythagoras.

"Live today, forget the past"- an ancient Greek proverb.

"Small opportunities often lead to great ventures."- Demosthenes.

"The great science of living happily is to live only in the present."- Pythagoras.

"The first and best victory is a victory over oneself"- Plato.

“People tend to blame fate, gods, and anything else for their misfortunes, but not themselves” - Plato.

  1. Believe in yourself, listen to yourself, and don't always take what others say on faith.

Nobody knows you better than you. In life, you will encounter many people who will share with you their ideas, opinions and visions of various situations. You will meet many people who will provide you with free advice on how you should manage your life. Listen without condemnation, draw conclusions, but follow the dictates of your heart - ancient philosophers call in their aphorisms.

"Learn to listen and you can benefit even from those who speak ill of you."- Plutarch.

"First of all, do not lose your self-esteem"- Pythagoras.

"Learn to be silent, let your cold mind listen and heed"- Pythagoras.

“Whatever people think of you, do what you think is fair. Be equally impartial to blame and praise "- Pythagoras.

"If you live in harmony with nature, you will never be poor, but if you live in harmony with nature, you will never be rich."- Epicurus.

  1. Don't lose faith.

Replace fears and bad feelings with faith and hope. Humility, love, and faith can work miracles. Everything will happen at the right time and in the right place.

"Hope is a waking dream"- Aristotle.

“No fruit ripens suddenly, not a bunch of grapes, not a fig tree. If you tell me that you want figs, I will tell you that time must pass. Let the tree bloom first, and then the fruits ripen "- Epictetus.

  1. Always strive to think and feel positively.

The ancient Greeks preached: "Think good." If negative thoughts fill your head, wave goodbye to them and replace them with positive thoughts of beauty, happiness, and love. Focus on the present and the things for which you are grateful to God. Avoid negative people around you and always surround yourself with happy and positive people.

"Fear and sadness, which have taken possession of a person for a long time, are conducive to disease."- Hippocrates.

"The human brain contains the cause of many diseases"- Hippocrates.

"Happiness depends on ourselves"- Aristotle.

“The brain is the place where pleasure, laughter and joy arise. Longing, grief and crying come from him. "- Hippocrates.

6. Improve yourself and open up new horizons for yourself.

"Explore everything, give reason first place"- Pythagoras.

"Labor, good spirits and striving of the mind for perfection, for knowledge lead to results that adorn life"- Hippocrates.

7. In a difficult situation, look for strength and courage within yourself.

"Courage is a virtue by virtue of which people in danger do wonderful things."- Aristotle.

"Courage and resilience are necessary for people not only against the weapons of enemies, but, equally, against any blows of fate."- Plutarch.

“You don't develop the courage to be happy in your relationship every day. You will develop it in difficult times and through all kinds of adversity "- Epicurus.

"You will never do anything in this world without courage. This is the greatest human quality that should be honored."- Aristotle.

8. Forgive the mistakes of yourself and others.

Treat your mistakes positively as a rewarding experience that will ultimately help you achieve your dreams. Misses and failures are inevitable.

"It is better to expose your own mistakes than others'"- Democritus.

"To live and not make a single mistake is not in the power of man, but it is good to learn wisdom in the future from your mistakes."- Plutarch.

"Not to be mistaken in anything is a property of gods, but not of man."- Demosthenes.

“Every business is improved by the mastery of technology. Every skill is achieved by exercise "- Hippocrates.

9. Virtue and compassion.

The views of the ancient Greek philosophers resonate with the later emerging Christianity. It is no accident that medieval Christian theologians called Aristotle a spontaneous Christian, although he lived long before the birth of Jesus Christ.

"What is the sense of life? Serve others and do good "- Aristotle.

"Live with people so that your friends do not become enemies, and enemies become friends."- Pythagoras.

"Boys stone frogs for fun, but frogs really die."- Plutarch.

"Immortality, alien to our nature, and power, which depends mostly on luck, we thirst and covet, and moral perfection - the only of the divine benefits available to us - we put in last place"- Plutarch.

"Two things make a person godlike: living for the good of society and being truthful."- Pythagoras.

« In order for the sun to rise, there is no need for prayers or spells, it suddenly begins to send its rays to the joy of everyone. So do not expect any applause, no noise, no praise in order to do good - do good deeds voluntarily - and you will be loved like the sun. "- Epictetus.

"Life is short, but honest, always prefer life long, but shameful"- Epictetus.

"Burning yourself, shine on others"- Hippocrates.

"By caring for the happiness of others, we find our own."- Plato.

"A person who has received a blessing should remember this all his life, and a person who has shown a blessing should immediately forget about it."- Demosthenes.

This clever selection includes philosophical statements on various aspects of human life:
  • I am seriously convinced that the world is run by completely crazy people. The non-insane are either abstaining or unable to participate. Tolstoy L. N.
  • A noble husband thinks about his due. The low person thinks about what is profitable. Confucius
  • I have yet to meet a cat who cares what the mice say about him. Yuzef Bulatovich
  • Be supportive of bold undertakings. Virgil
  • What's easy? - Give advice to others. Thales of Miletus
  • Among the fools there is a certain sect called hypocrites who constantly learn to deceive themselves and others, but more than others than themselves, but in reality they deceive more of themselves than others. Leonardo da Vinci
  • It is better for a person who calls everything by their proper names not to appear on the street - they will beat him up as an enemy of society. George Savile Halifax
  • The cheerful expression on his face is gradually reflected in the inner world... Immanuel Kant
  • What not to do, do not even do it in thought. Epictetus
  • The war will last as long as people have the foolishness to wonder and help those who kill them by the thousands. Pierre Bouast

  • An intelligent person sees before him an immeasurable realm of the possible, while a fool considers only that which is possible. Denis Diderot
  • World history is the sum of all that could have been avoided. Bertrand Russell
  • Belief is the conscience of reason. Nicola Shamfort
  • To betray someone else's secret is treason, to betray your own is stupidity. Voltaire
  • One who constantly restrains himself is always unhappy for fear of being unhappy sometimes. Claude Helvetius
  • The foolish one believes every word, the prudent one is attentive to his ways. Micheley
  • Those who want to learn are often harmed by the credibility of those who teach. Cicero
  • It's sad to be the scapegoat among donkeys. Pshekruj
  • Happy is he who boldly takes under protection what he loves. Ovid
  • Children need to be taught what will be useful to them when they grow up. Aristippus
  • One should beware of abuse of mercy. Machiavelli
  • The trust shown to the treacherous gives him the opportunity to harm. Seneca
  • The hottest coals in hell are left for those who remained neutral during the greatest moral upheavals. Dante
  • If 50 million people say nonsense, it is still nonsense. Anatole France
  • The speech of truth is simple. Plato
  • Unless opposing opinions are expressed, there is nothing to choose the best from. Herodotus
  • The opposite is cured by the opposite. Hippocrates
  • If you buy what you don’t need, you will soon be selling what you need. Benjamin Franklin
  • A government acting without the consent of those it rules is the definitive formula for slavery. Jonathan Swift
  • There is a weapon of more terrible slander; this weapon is the truth. Talleyrand
  • It is not proper for a decent person to pursue universal respect: let it come to him on its own against his will. Nicola Shamfort
  • Women don't count their age. Girlfriends do it for them. Yusef BulatOvich
  • He who knows himself is his own executioner. Friedrich Nietzsche
  • And please don’t tell me about tolerance, it seems that special houses have been set aside for it. Mark Aldanov
  • Memory is a copper board covered with letters that time imperceptibly smoothes out, if sometimes not renewed with a chisel. John Locke
  • True conservatism is the struggle of eternity against time, resistance to incorruptibility to decay. Nikolay Berdyaev
  • The skeleton of the house will collapse from lazy hands, and whoever gives up, his roof is leaking. Kohelet / Ecclesiastes

  • Slander is the revenge of cowards. Samuel Johnson
  • She gave in so quickly that he did not have time to retreat. Yusef BulatOvich
  • When a person does not know which pier he is heading to, not a single wind will be favorable for him. Seneca
  • Favors do not bring people closer. One who does a favor does not receive gratitude; the one to whom it is done does not consider it a favor. Edmund Burke
  • Who hates the world? Those who have torn apart the truth. Augustine the Blessed
  • Education makes the difference between people. John Locke
  • Whoever persuades too hard will not convince anyone. Nicola Shamfort
  • No pretense can last long. Cicero
  • Better to acquit ten guilty persons than to accuse one innocent person. Catherine II
  • An injustice against one person is a threat to all. Charles Louis Montesquieu
  • The best way to instill in children a love of the fatherland is for the fathers to have this love. Charles Louis Montesquieu
  • You cannot help someone who does not want to listen to advice. Benjamin Franklin
  • Small-minded people usually condemn everything that goes beyond their understanding. Francois de La Rochefoucauld
  • It is not enough to master wisdom; one must also be able to use it. Cicero
  • I will not be understood there and will not be well received here. A. Dumas
  • Do not follow the majority evilly and do not resolve litigation by deviating from the truth for the majority. Shmot / Exodus
  • For many, philosophers are as painful as night revelers who disturb the sleep of civilians. Arthur Schopenhauer
  • The only real victory is when the enemies themselves admit that they are defeated. Claudian
  • Courage is tested when we are in the minority; tolerance - when we are in the majority. Ralph Sokman
  • We should strive not to ensure that everyone understands us, but to ensure that it is impossible not to understand us. Virgil
  • We praise what is praised by others far more often than what is praiseworthy in itself. Jean de La Bruyère
  • A fly that does not want to be swatted feels safest on the firecracker itself. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
  • The thoughts of the best minds always end up becoming the opinion of society. Philip Chesterfield
  • Perhaps an atheist is incapable of coming to the Lord for the same reasons that a thief is incapable of coming to a policeman. Lawrence Peter
  • Do not have mercy on a weak enemy, for if he becomes powerful, he will not have mercy on you. Saadi
  • Peace must be won by victory, not by agreement. Cicero
  • It is not true that politics is the art of the possible. Politics is a choice between disastrous and unpleasant. John Kenneth Galbraith
  • People are so simple-minded and so absorbed in immediate needs, that the deceiver will always find someone who will let himself be fooled. Machiavelli
  • Ignorance is not an argument. Ignorance is not an argument. Spinoza
  • It is not human nature to love someone who obviously hates us. Henry Fielding
  • Often they go far to look for what they have at home. Voltaire
  • Better to fight among the few good people against a multitude of bad ones, than among a multitude of bad ones against a few good ones. Antisthenes

Until now, quotes from philosophers of different eras do not lose their relevance. Studying them, you can learn a lot, as well as recharge yourself with calmness, optimism and faith in yourself.

Quotes from ancient Greek philosophers about life

It was ancient Greek philosophy that played a leading role in the formation of the philosophy of European countries. The sages of antiquity raised such important questions, how:

  • opposing materialism to idealism;
  • separation of rationalistic and empirical knowledge of the world;
  • the essence of thinking;
  • defining the difference between a life of duty and the life of a hedonist.

The philosophers of this time can be called: Epicurus and Aristotle, Pythagoras and Democritus, Demosthenes and Homer, as well as Plato. Ancient Greek philosophy includes Greek and Roman philosophy, which lasted more than a thousand years in total. In ancient Greece, the development of this science was carried out by aristocrats, as well as travelers who brought writing from the Phoenicians.

The aphorisms of the ancient Greek philosophers about life are different character depending on which philosophical trend their authors belonged to. So, Homer wrote a lot about heroes, gods and immortality, available to only a few. Pythagoras, like the supporters of Orphism, considered life to be suffering for the soul and saw deliverance from it in death. At the same time, in his opinion, with death there is a transmigration of souls, or metempsychosis.

The followers of the Miletus school studied in more detail the origin of life on Earth. Many of them were convinced that the beginning of everything that exists was fire, which lives forever, and everything that is generated by it - of course, or mortal. Some sages argued that non-being does not exist at all - there is only being.

Democritus described the human soul as full of warmth, which in itself is the fundamental principle of all living things. At the same time, all living things, in his opinion, are animated in different ways. The more warmth there is in the soul of a living being, the more perfect it is. The same philosopher assures that the afterlife is nothing more than a myth, since after death the soul scatters into many atoms and disappears. The deceased person stops holding these atoms by breathing, and they scatter and mix with the atoms contained in the air.

The main idea of ​​the philosophy of ancient Greece about life is that you need to live a full life and not be afraid of death. Resisting death is meaningless, just like grieving for the departed. Man is the only creator of morality and laws, which are the main criteria of virtue.

The main precepts of the philosophers of this era are as follows:

  1. Everything in life should be done based on unconditional love.
  2. You should never be discouraged, grumble about fate or live in the past.
  3. You do not need to recklessly believe everything that other people say, but you need to trust yourself in any situation.
  4. You always need to keep your thoughts positive and not lose faith.
  5. When a situation becomes difficult, only within oneself can one find the strength to overcome it.

Thus, the ancient teaching about life is inseparable from the desire to overcome the fear of death. Subsequently, the immortality of the soul, which reduces the tragedy of death, was adopted by many religions.

Quotes from medieval philosophers

Medieval philosophy began its existence in the 5th century and ended in the 15th. Its main element was an attempt to unite people, divided into estates, classes, nationalities and occupations, with the help of a common religion - Christianity. Many philosophers were convinced that, having become Christians, people will be able to become equal to each other in the future, afterlife, regardless of what their life was like on earth. Promoting the idea of ​​immortality - distinctive feature this time.

The attitude towards nature was changing. If ancient philosophy viewed nature as separate element universe, now in the Middle Ages it has become only an instrument in the hands of man. Scientific study of it was suspended, people sought to use its wealth, giving little thought to their replenishment.

Speaking about human self-awareness, it is important to note that the Middle Ages is a time when main characteristic a person becomes his will (in antiquity it was reason). People who have not been able to subjugate their own will can be aware of good, but at the same time do evil. The leading philosophical thought of the poet was that no one can defeat evil without God's help.

Philosophical thought has gone through three periods:

  1. The Apologetics period, when early Christian symbols and rituals were revised and the existence of God was proven;
  2. The Patristic period - when the Catholic Christian Church began to dominate all spheres of human life in Europe;
  3. The period of Scholasticism - when the dogmas expressed by the sages of the past were revised.

The most famous thinkers of this era were Tatian, Origen, Boethius, Thomas Aquinas, John Chrysostom and others. Most of them were directly related to the church. Therefore, the phrases of various philosophers, known to us since the Middle Ages, were also originally conceived as related to religion.

Renaissance Philosophers Quotes

The Renaissance began at the end of the XIV century Western Europe, very quickly capturing all areas of knowledge - including philosophy. At this time, thinkers return to antiquity and revive ideas that were born in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The era is divided into several stages:

  1. humanistic - when anthropocentrism was replaced by theocentrism;
  2. Neoplatonic;
  3. natural philosophical.

The statements of thinkers at each of the above stages have their own characteristic features. In general, the Catholic Church began to exert less influence on all spheres of people's life and as a result split between the Protestant and Catholic ones. The geographical discoveries made at this time also contributed to the change in the picture of the world. The growing influence of science has led to the fact that all more philosophers began to believe that the world is organized rationally. Philosophy headed for heliocentrism (the idea of ​​a world system with the Sun in the center), humanism, neo-Platonism (a movement based on the ideas of Plato) and secularism (a proposal to separate the civil rights of people and the system of government from religion).

Prominent Renaissance philosophers were Dante Alighieri, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Boccaccio, Galileo Galilei, Machiavelli and others.

Quotes from modern philosophers

This period in philosophy began in the 17th century and lasted for two centuries. Thinkers developed several directions:

  • empiricism;
  • rationalism;
  • materialism;
  • philosophy of education.

The names of the most famous thinkers of this era: Holbach and Leibniz, Hobbes and Bacon, Descartes and Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu.

Science is striding forward by leaps and bounds, making one discovery after another, and its laws affect philosophy as well, turning it into an experimental science. Rationalism and empiricism become the main directions of its development thanks to social and scientific revolutions. Cognition based on logic, on the one hand, and subjective feelings, on the other, occupies thinkers. A lot of works are devoted to cognition itself - its laws, essence, goals and capabilities.

Quotes from modern philosophers

The classics, but also modern philosophers have left many bright, wise sayings... Peculiarity modern philosophy- that a person is recognized as endowed with unlimited possibilities for knowledge and creativity. In this case, forces should be directed not at the outside world, but primarily at themselves. As soon as you manage to become better yourself, everything that surrounds him will change.

The most famous modern thinkers include: Vonnegut, Pierce, James, Freud, Camus and others.

Each of the listed philosophers contributed to the knowledge of the world and man - his soul and life. Through their quotes, everyone can get to know themselves better and find the right path.