Philosophy Bits
@philosophybits.com
A collection of fine philosophical and literary quotations. Curated by @suliqyre.com
philosophybits.com
philosophybits.com
“Those who are confident without knowledge are not courageous, but mad.”
— Socrates, in Plato’s Protagoras
— Socrates, in Plato’s Protagoras
December 3, 2025 at 2:46 AM
“Those who are confident without knowledge are not courageous, but mad.”
— Socrates, in Plato’s Protagoras
— Socrates, in Plato’s Protagoras
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“Who had already become as mute as I was? who, like me, was calling fear love? and want, love? and need, love? Who, like me, knew that I had never changed my form since they had drawn me on the stone of a cave?”
— Clarice Lispector, The Passion According to G. H.
— Clarice Lispector, The Passion According to G. H.
December 3, 2025 at 12:04 AM
“Who had already become as mute as I was? who, like me, was calling fear love? and want, love? and need, love? Who, like me, knew that I had never changed my form since they had drawn me on the stone of a cave?”
— Clarice Lispector, The Passion According to G. H.
— Clarice Lispector, The Passion According to G. H.
“It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living pleasantly.”
— Epicurus, Principal Doctrines
— Epicurus, Principal Doctrines
December 2, 2025 at 8:31 PM
“It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living pleasantly.”
— Epicurus, Principal Doctrines
— Epicurus, Principal Doctrines
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“Any set of rules can only be a proxy for goodness and never goodness itself. Our rules are human creations and thus they also exhibit and magnify our flaws. Rather than guaranteeing goodness, conformity to rules can sometimes impede the possibility of goodness.”
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225. To Become Better
We generally try to follow the rules because we value the order, predictability, and safety they provide. We also know that a significant deviation from the rules could result in consequences that wou...
suliqyre.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:15 PM
“Any set of rules can only be a proxy for goodness and never goodness itself. Our rules are human creations and thus they also exhibit and magnify our flaws. Rather than guaranteeing goodness, conformity to rules can sometimes impede the possibility of goodness.”
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“If one could only make people understand that it is the same with language as with mathematical formulae. These constitute a world of their own. They play only with themselves, express nothing but their own marvelous nature, and just for this reason they are so expressive —
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December 2, 2025 at 4:55 PM
“If one could only make people understand that it is the same with language as with mathematical formulae. These constitute a world of their own. They play only with themselves, express nothing but their own marvelous nature, and just for this reason they are so expressive —
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“As soon as it comes to the point where the crowd judges what is truth, it will not be long before decisions are made with fists.”
— Søren Kierkegaard, Writing Sampler
— Søren Kierkegaard, Writing Sampler
December 2, 2025 at 2:27 AM
“As soon as it comes to the point where the crowd judges what is truth, it will not be long before decisions are made with fists.”
— Søren Kierkegaard, Writing Sampler
— Søren Kierkegaard, Writing Sampler
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“There is an ecology of bad ideas, just as there is an ecology of weeds, and it is characteristic of the system that basic error propagates itself. It branches out like a rooted parasite through the tissues of life, and everything gets into a rather peculiar mess.”
— Gregory Bateson
— Gregory Bateson
December 2, 2025 at 12:02 AM
“There is an ecology of bad ideas, just as there is an ecology of weeds, and it is characteristic of the system that basic error propagates itself. It branches out like a rooted parasite through the tissues of life, and everything gets into a rather peculiar mess.”
— Gregory Bateson
— Gregory Bateson
“Simply give up contention and soon nothing in all beneath heaven contends with you. It was hardly empty talk when the ancients declared 'In yielding is completion.'”
— Laozi, Daodejing, Hinton tr. (Ch 22)
— Laozi, Daodejing, Hinton tr. (Ch 22)
December 1, 2025 at 9:09 PM
“Simply give up contention and soon nothing in all beneath heaven contends with you. It was hardly empty talk when the ancients declared 'In yielding is completion.'”
— Laozi, Daodejing, Hinton tr. (Ch 22)
— Laozi, Daodejing, Hinton tr. (Ch 22)
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“We approach such a text with certain expectations. We expect it to take a side, to strongly support one position and argue forcefully against the alternative. We see it as a combatant in a battle with clearly-defined boundaries articulated through centuries of political discourse.”
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224. Language Is Political
If a text appears even slightly political, we approach it with certain expectations. We expect it to take a side, to strongly support one position and argue forcefully against the alternative. We see ...
suliqyre.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:37 PM
“We approach such a text with certain expectations. We expect it to take a side, to strongly support one position and argue forcefully against the alternative. We see it as a combatant in a battle with clearly-defined boundaries articulated through centuries of political discourse.”
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“Politics always puts forward Ideas: Nation, Empire, Union, Economy, etc. But none of these forms has value in itself; it has it only insofar as it involves concrete individuals.
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December 1, 2025 at 5:20 PM
“Politics always puts forward Ideas: Nation, Empire, Union, Economy, etc. But none of these forms has value in itself; it has it only insofar as it involves concrete individuals.
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“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols
December 1, 2025 at 3:16 AM
“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols
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“When Aristotle said that poetry was more philosophical than history, he was justified insofar as he wanted to rescue poetry, that is, the arts, from being conceived as a type of factual, particular, descriptive statement. But what he said was misleading insofar as it
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November 30, 2025 at 11:15 PM
“When Aristotle said that poetry was more philosophical than history, he was justified insofar as he wanted to rescue poetry, that is, the arts, from being conceived as a type of factual, particular, descriptive statement. But what he said was misleading insofar as it
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“Obscurity is painful to the mind as well as to the eye; but to bring light from obscurity, by whatever labour, is delightful.”
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
November 30, 2025 at 8:55 PM
“Obscurity is painful to the mind as well as to the eye; but to bring light from obscurity, by whatever labour, is delightful.”
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
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“Compassion directed towards another person is also self-compassion. When I treat others with compassion, I also make the world better for myself. A more compassionate world is one that is more empathetic, more cooperative, and more loving.”
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“Compassion Is Self-Compassion”, etc. (221-225)
When I treat others with compassion, I also make the world better for myself.
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November 26, 2025 at 8:11 PM
“Compassion directed towards another person is also self-compassion. When I treat others with compassion, I also make the world better for myself. A more compassionate world is one that is more empathetic, more cooperative, and more loving.”
Read more:
suliqyre.substack.com/p/compassion...
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suliqyre.substack.com/p/compassion...
“I would contend ... that we will be better men, braver and less idle, if we believe that one must search for the things one does not know, rather than if we believe that it is not possible to find out what we do not know and that we must not look for it.”
— Plato, Meno
— Plato, Meno
November 30, 2025 at 4:56 PM
“I would contend ... that we will be better men, braver and less idle, if we believe that one must search for the things one does not know, rather than if we believe that it is not possible to find out what we do not know and that we must not look for it.”
— Plato, Meno
— Plato, Meno
“We forgive as long as we love.”
— François de La Rochefoucauld, Moral Reflections
— François de La Rochefoucauld, Moral Reflections
November 30, 2025 at 3:34 AM
“We forgive as long as we love.”
— François de La Rochefoucauld, Moral Reflections
— François de La Rochefoucauld, Moral Reflections
“Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible: we keep unaltered as much of our old knowledge, as many of our old prejudices and beliefs, as we can. We patch and tinker more than we renew.”
— William James, Pragmatism
— William James, Pragmatism
November 29, 2025 at 8:33 PM
“Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible: we keep unaltered as much of our old knowledge, as many of our old prejudices and beliefs, as we can. We patch and tinker more than we renew.”
— William James, Pragmatism
— William James, Pragmatism
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“While the blank page taunts with its emptiness, it also allows for infinite possibilities. But now he is saddled with fifty-one words that feel significant. They are evidence he has begun something and he ought to keep going.”
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223. Fifty-One Words
He wants to write but he cannot find the words. He has already written three sentences, exactly fifty-one words in total. He knows this because he has counted them twice. Fifty-one words and nothing m...
suliqyre.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:33 PM
“While the blank page taunts with its emptiness, it also allows for infinite possibilities. But now he is saddled with fifty-one words that feel significant. They are evidence he has begun something and he ought to keep going.”
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suliqyre.com/posts/fifty-...
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“An active and sensate democracy requires that we learn how to read well, not just texts but images and sounds, to translate across languages, across media, ways of performing, listening, acting, making art and theory.”
— Judith Butler, “McGill University commencement address”, 2013
— Judith Butler, “McGill University commencement address”, 2013
November 29, 2025 at 4:52 PM
“An active and sensate democracy requires that we learn how to read well, not just texts but images and sounds, to translate across languages, across media, ways of performing, listening, acting, making art and theory.”
— Judith Butler, “McGill University commencement address”, 2013
— Judith Butler, “McGill University commencement address”, 2013
“There is tenderness only in the coarsest demand: that no-one shall go hungry any more.”
— Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia
— Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia
November 29, 2025 at 3:05 AM
“There is tenderness only in the coarsest demand: that no-one shall go hungry any more.”
— Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia
— Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia
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“If truth and reality can clearly come only from the subject and his consciousness, then illusion, which is the opposite of these, must necessarily come from elsewhere.
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November 28, 2025 at 11:11 PM
“If truth and reality can clearly come only from the subject and his consciousness, then illusion, which is the opposite of these, must necessarily come from elsewhere.
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“If “X exists” amounts to no more than “X” has a meaning, then it is not a sentence which treats of X, but a sentence about our use of language, that is, about the use of the word “X”.”
— Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations
— Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations
November 28, 2025 at 8:37 PM
“If “X exists” amounts to no more than “X” has a meaning, then it is not a sentence which treats of X, but a sentence about our use of language, that is, about the use of the word “X”.”
— Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations
— Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations
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“By changing your perspective, your mood also changes you. It shapes your behaviour, it modifies your speech, it alters the way you look. It can do these things because the way you are is less a response to the world around you than it is a response to your own self.”
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222. Dominant Moods
A bad mood can be so strong that it dominates you. It changes the way you see the world by colouring it in a darker light. What was once fun and exciting can quickly transform into nothing more than a...
suliqyre.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:50 PM
“By changing your perspective, your mood also changes you. It shapes your behaviour, it modifies your speech, it alters the way you look. It can do these things because the way you are is less a response to the world around you than it is a response to your own self.”
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“The opportunities of living are diminished in proportion as what are called the ‘means’ are increased. The best thing a man can do for his culture when he is rich is to endeavor to carry out those schemes which he entertained when he was poor.”
— Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
— Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
November 28, 2025 at 5:22 PM
“The opportunities of living are diminished in proportion as what are called the ‘means’ are increased. The best thing a man can do for his culture when he is rich is to endeavor to carry out those schemes which he entertained when he was poor.”
— Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
— Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
“A man should be upright, not be kept upright.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
November 28, 2025 at 2:32 AM
“A man should be upright, not be kept upright.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations