Thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment
Baruch Spinoza
1632 – 1677
Philosophyquotes
Baruch (de) Spinoza, also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born and lived in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenment, Spinoza significantly influenced modern biblical criticism, 17th-century rationalism, and Dutch intellectual culture, establishing himself as one of the most important and radical philosophers of the early modern period. Influenced by Stoicism, Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes, Ibn Tufayl, and heterodox Christians, Spinoza was a leading philosopher of the Dutch Golden Age.
Every philosopher has two philosophies: his own and Spinoza's.
Immanuel Kant
1724 – 1804
Philosophyquotes
German philosopher whose work on epistemology and ethics was transformative.
Thus our duties to animals are indirectly duties to humanity.
Edmund Burke
1729 – 1797
Philosophyquotes
Edmund Burke was an Anglo-Irish writer, philosopher, and politician who is widely credited as the founder of the cultural and political philosophy of conservatism. Regarded as one of the most influential conservative thinkers and political writers of the 18th century, Burke spent the majority of his career in Great Britain and was elected as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1766 to 1794 in the House of Commons of Great Britain with the Whig Party. His writings played a significant role in influencing public views and opinions in both Great Britain and France following the French Revolution in 1789, and he remains a major figure in modern conservative circles.
There never was a bad man that had ability for good service.
Thomas Paine
1737 – 1809
Politicsquotes
Thomas Paine was an English-born American Founding Father, French Revolutionary, inventor, political philosopher, and statesman. His pamphlets Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (1776–1783) framed the Patriot argument for independence from Great Britain at the outset of the American Revolution. Paine advanced Enlightenment-era arguments for human rights that shaped revolutionary discourse on both sides of the Atlantic.
One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hundred priests.
Samuel Johnson
1709 – 1784
Literaturequotes
Samuel Johnson, often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography calls him "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history".
Questioning is not the mode of conversation among gentlemen.
Voltaire
1694 – 1778
Philosophyquotes
François-Marie Arouet, known by his pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, philosopher (philosophe), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit and his criticism of Christianity and of slavery, Voltaire was an advocate of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state.
If I had had more time, this letter would have been shorter.
Charles Dickens
1719 – 1793
Literaturequotes
English novelist and social critic whose works, including A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, and Great Expectations, highlighted social injustices of Victorian England. He remains one of the most widely read and adapted authors in the English language.
If there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers.
Blaise Pascal
1623 – 1662
Mathematicsquotes
Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer.
Words from November 12
"Every philosopher has two philosophies: his own and Spinoza's."
Baruch Spinoza
1632
"Thus our duties to animals are indirectly duties to humanity."
Immanuel Kant
1724
"There never was a bad man that had ability for good service."
Edmund Burke
1729
"A conscientious man would be cautious how he dealt in blood."
Edmund Burke
1729
"One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hundred priests."
Thomas Paine
1737
"The Apostle: Thomas Paine and the Making of the Modern World"
Thomas Paine
1737