Belgium
Quotes & Thinkers from Belgium
49 thinkers671 quotesTop field: Politics
"It is too difficult to think nobly when one thinks only of earning a living."
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Philosophy
Enlightenment
1946–2014
"Or, rather, let us be more simple and less vain."
60 quotes

Koenraad Elst
Indology
b. 1959
"In the West, secularism implies pinpricking religious fraud and arrogance, but in India, secularists are the most eloquent defenders of myth and theocracy."
296 quotes
Gustave de Molinari
Politics
1819–1912
"The Society of Tomorrow by Molinari, published electronically by The Library of Economics and Liberty with annotations, biography, etc."
14 quotes

Michel Seuphor
Art
1901–1999
"Kandinsky in Munich uttered the well known words: 'Everything is permitted!' In 1961; we still live by this heritage, which in truth is inexhaustible."
8 quotes
Cicero
Politics
academic skepticism
-106–-43
"M: Nam efficit hoc philosophia: medetur animis, inanes sollicitudines detrahit, cupiditatibus liberat, pellit timores."
24 quotes

Guy Verhofstadt
Politics
b. 1953
"is stupidity for a country with 53 percent of its exports going to the Continent and to the rest of Europe. It’s even so stupid that Britain’s best friends, the U.S., don’t understand it all."
9 quotes
Johan Neerman
Technology
b. 1959
"Public transport is functionality for people not engineers."
4 quotes
Ilya Prigogine
Science
1917–2003
"The ideas of nonequilibrium order and of the search for stability extend Darwin’s concept back to the prebiotic stage by redefining the “fittest”."
17 quotes

Maurice Maeterlinck
Literature
Symbolism
1862–1949
"The future is a world limited by ourselves; in it we discover only what concerns us and, sometimes, by chance, what interests those whom we love the most."
17 quotes
Paul-Henri Spaak
Politics
1899–1972
"The real father of the Atlantic Alliance was Stalin. It is he who has the right to a monument in each of our countries."
2 quotes

Ernest Solvay
Business
1838–1922
"The man of the future will be dedicated to individualism."
4 quotes
Francis Heylighen
Education
b. 1960
"Francis Heylighen profile at Google Scholar"
10 quotes
R
Raoul Vaneigem
Literature
b. 1934
3 quotes

Frank Van Dun
Philosophy
b. 1947
"An anarchist does not want to rule others and does not want others to rule him. Nothing is so despicable as half-an-anarchist."
5 quotes
Christopher Gérard
Literature
b. 1962
"I was motivated not so much by belief, as by loyalty to my Pagan ancestors, who were loyal to their Gods, worshiping underground, always resisting, and who punctuate our history."
9 quotes
Bernard Lietaer
Economics
1942–2019
"In this new Millennium, we are being challenged by four megatrends that are converging upon us over the next twenty years, namely:"
32 quotes
Leopold II of Belgium
Politics
1835–1909
"The Congo Free State is unique in its kind. It has nothing to hide and no secrets and is not beholden to anyone except its founder."
5 quotes
Jacques Brel
Music
1929–1978
"Trailer for Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris"
3 quotes

Georges Simenon
Literature
1903–1989
"The fact that we are I don't know how many millions of people, yet communication, complete communication, is completely impossible between two of those people, is to me one of the biggest tragic themes in the world."
3 quotes
R
Roger Raveel
Art
1921–2013
"The city offers certainly advantages, I agree. But I think that they do not outweigh the direct, unadulterated inspiration of the natural life that I find here ."
12 quotes

Théophile de Donder
Science
1872–1957
1 quotes

Simon Stevin
Mathematics
1548–1620
"The seventh Definition. The Golden Rule, or Rule of three, is that by which to three tearmes given, the fourth proportionall tearme is found."
11 quotes
Henri Michaux
Literature
1899–1984
"It is almost an intellectual tradition to pay heed to the insane. In my case those that I most respect are the morons."
7 quotes

Diederik Aerts
Mathematics
b. 1953
"We continually speak of world views in the plural because a unique and monolithic world view - considering the immense complexity of reality - will remain an unattainable ideal."
9 quotes
Georges Lemaître
Mathematics
1894–1966
"There is no conflict between science and religion."
3 quotes
Bobbejaan Schoepen
Entertainment
1925–2010
"I have never been a child prodigy. When I think back to my childhood, I can not discern any sign of future success. My only real talent couldn't be found in any curriculum: whistling."
3 quotes
Gerardus Mercator
Literature
1512–1594
"The original latin text and a german texts may be found in may be found in volume 3, pp 99-333 of Ad Maiorem Gerardi Mercatoris Gloriam. This english translation is a slightly edited version of the Google translation"
8 quotes

Leopold III of Belgium
Politics
1901–1983
1 quotes
Christian de Duve
Science
1917–2013
"It is as though a puzzle could be put together simply by shaking its pieces."
1 quotes
Pierre Deligne
Mathematics
b. 1944
"The nice thing about mathematics is doing mathematics."
1 quotes
Sonja Eggerickx
Politics
Humanism
b. 1947
"The overwhelming majority of countries fail to respect the rights of atheists and freethinkers although they have signed U.N agreements to treat all citizens equally."
2 quotes
Henry Spira
Social Activism
Socialism
1927–1998
"If you see something that's wrong, you've got to do something about it."
6 quotes
Edward Schillebeeckx
Religion
1914–2009
"It is evident that thought is also necessary for action. But the Church has for centuries ... focused on orthodoxy and left orthopraxis in the hands of nonmembers and nonbelievers."
1 quotes
François Englert
Science
b. 1932
3 quotes
Philippe of Belgium
Politics
b. 1960
"I swear to abide by the constitution and laws of the Belgian people, to maintain national independence and the integrity of the land."
3 quotes
François-Joseph Fétis
Music
1784–1871
1 quotes
Ernest Mandel
Economics
1923–1995
"The reformer Yeltsin represents the tendency which wants to reduce the gigantic state apparatus. Consequently he follows in Trotsky's footsteps."
10 quotes
L
Luce Irigaray
Philosophy
b. 1930
1 quotes
Queen Mathilde of Belgium
Mathematics
b. 1973
"The homework is obviously in Dutch. I adapt myself accordingly. The kids just think in Dutch."
2 quotes

Léon Rosenfeld
Science
1904–1974
"Each word is a singularity, or is connected with a singularity, in our way of understanding existence."
1 quotes
Notable Quotes
"Beings who are so uniquely constituted must necessarily express themselves in other ways than ordinary men. It is impossible that with souls so differently modified, they should not carry over into the expression of their feelings and ideas the stamp of those modifications."
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, b. 1946View →
"Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men"
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, b. 1946View →
"Hatred, as well as love, renders its votaries credulous."
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, b. 1946View →
"I want you to read the true system of the heart, drafted by a decent man and published under another name. I do not want you to be biased against good and useful books merely because a man unworthy of reading them has the audacity to call himself the Author."
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, b. 1946View →
"The thirst after happiness is never extinguished in the heart of man."
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, b. 1946View →