Denis Diderot foi um filósofo e escritor francês.
Denis Diderot nasceu na Champanha e começou sua educação formal no Colégio Jesuíta de Langres. Seus pais eram Didier Diderot , um cuteleiro, e sua esposa Angélique Vigneron . Três dos cinco irmãos de Diderot chegaram à idade adulta, Denise Diderot , Pierre-Didier Diderot e Angélique Diderot .
Diderot ingressou no colégio jesuíta de Langres em 1723 . O ensino fornecido pelos jesuítas, que detinham o monopólio da educação secundária na França de então, enfatizava o ensino das línguas clássicas e uma atenção rigorosa às orações católicas, o que visava atenuar a influência humanista e secular. Diderot foi um aluno muito perspicaz e recebeu até mesmo algumas menções honrosas e premiações em virtude de seu excelente desempenho escolar.
Em 1726, o bispo de Langres concede a Diderot a tonsura e tudo indicava que o jovem Denis seguiria uma carreira eclesiástica. A família de Diderot esperava que ele herdasse a prebenda de seu tio, o cônego Didier Vigneron. Contudo, por uma série de infortúnios , Diderot não recebeu o benefício esperado, embora recebesse a alcunha de abade por parte de seus concidadãos.
Por motivos ainda não inteiramente esclarecidos, em 1728, aos dezesseis anos, Diderot parte para Paris e passa a frequentar o colégio de Harcourt . Em 1732 recebe o grau de mestre em artes na Universidade de Paris. Pouco se sabe sobre os primeiros anos de Diderot em Paris. Sabe-se que considerou a possibilidade de estudar Direito e que sua conduta foi motivo de preocupação para seu pai e que passou por dificuldades financeiras.
Diderot iniciou sua carreira como tradutor. Em 1743, ele traduz a Grecian History, de Temple Stanyan. É contudo, a tradução de An inquiry concerning virtue or merit, de Shaftesbury, sob o título Essai sur le mérit et la vertu, publicado em 1745, que Diderot se torna um pouco mais conhecido. A primeira peça relevante da sua carreira literária é Lettres sur les aveugles a l’usage de ceux qui voient , em que sintetiza a evolução do seu pensamento desde o deísmo até ao cepticismo e o materialismo ateu, e tal obra culminou em sua prisão. Sua obra prima é a edição da Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers , onde reportou todo o conhecimento que a humanidade havia produzido até sua época. Demorou 21 anos para ser editada, e é composta por 28 volumes. Mesmo que na época o número de pessoas que sabia ler era pouco, ela foi vendida com sucesso. Denis conseguiu uma fortuna. Deu continuidade com empenho e entusiasmo apesar de alguma oposição da Igreja Católica e dos poderes estabelecidos. Escreveu também algumas outras peças teatrais de pouco êxito. Destacou-se particularmente nos romances, nos quais segue as normas dos humoristas ingleses, em especial de Sterne: A Religiosa, O Sobrinho de Rameau, Jacques, o fatalista e seu mestre. Escreveu vários artigos de crítica de arte.
Foi um dos primeiros autores que fazem da literatura um ofício, mas sem esquecer jamais que era um filósofo. Preocupava-se sempre com a natureza do homem, a sua condição, os seus problemas morais e o sentido do destino. Admirador entusiasta da vida em todas as suas manifestações, Diderot não reduziu a moral e a estética à fisiologia, mas situou-as num contexto humano total, tanto emocional como racional. Diderot é considerado por muitos um precursor da filosofia anarquista. Alguns estudiosos acreditam que, sob inspiração de sua obra, "A Religiosa", barbáries foram praticadas contra religiosos e freiras na Revolução Francesa de 1789 com o deturpado intuito de "protegê-los" contra os crimes praticados pela Santa Sé, há ainda um suposto dossiê encontrado por Georges May em 1954, que mostra a obra A religiosa como pura ficção e não um retrato da realidade.
Morreu em 31 de julho de 1784 e encontra-se sepultado no Panteão de Paris na França.
“Ter escravos não é nada, mas o que se torna intolerável é ter escravos chamando-lhes cidadãos.”
Avoir des esclaves n'est rien, ce qui est intolérable c'est d'avoir des esclaves et de les appeler citoyens.
citado em "Chronique française du XXe siècle", Volume 10 - Página 167, Paul Vialar - Del Duca, 1955
“A ignorância não fica tão distante da verdade quanto o preconceito.”
l'ignorance est moins éloignée de la vérité que le préjugé
OEuvres: Les bijoux indiscrets - Volume 1, Página 361 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=vw8wAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA361, Denis Diderot - 1818
“Coisas das quais nunca se duvidou, jamais foram provadas.”
Ce qu'on n'a jamais mis en question n'a point été prouvé.
Œuvres philosophiques et dramatiques de M. Diderot - Volume 3, Página 39 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=zDgHAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA39, item XXXI, Denis Diderot - 1772 - 15 páginas
On demandait un jour à quelqu'un s'il y avait de vrais athées. Croyez-vous répondit-il qu'il y ait de vrais chrétiens ?
"Pensées philosophiques" in: "Œuvres de Denis Diderot", Volume 1 - Página 108 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=3zIHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA108, Denis Diderot - A. Belin, 1818
“Dizem que o desejo é produto da vontade, mas dá-se o oposto: a vontade é produto do desejo.”
On dit que le désir naît de la volonté, c'est le contraire, c'est du désir que naît la volonté.
Oeuvres complètes: Revues sur les éditions originales ... Étude sur Diderot et le mouvement philosophique au XVIIIe siècle, Volume 9 - Página 352, Denis Diderot - Garnier, 1875
“Se, quando somos ricos, temos tudo, qual o interesse em termos mérito e virtude?”
et quand on est riche, si l'on a tout, quel intérêt à avoir du mérite et de la vertu?
Diderot et Catherine II - Página 239, Maurice Tourneux, Denis Diderot - Calmann Lévy, 1899 - 601 páginas
“Engolimos de uma vez a mentira que nos adula e bebemos gota a gota a verdade que nos amarga.”
On avale à pleine gorgée le mensonge qui nous flatte, et l'on boit goutte à goutte une vérité qui nous est amère
"Le Neveu de Rameau" in: "Œuvres inédites: Le neveu de Rameau. Voyage de Hollande" - Página 76 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=P6cGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA76, Denis Diderot - J.L.J. Brière, 1821 - 388 páginas
“Nem que seja para fazer alfinetes, o entusiasmo é indispensável para sermos bons no nosso ofício.”
Ne fit-on que des épingles, il faut être enthousiaste de son métier pour y exceller.
"Observations sur la Sculpture et sur Bouchardon" in: "Oeuvres de Denis Diderot", Volume 4 - Página 575 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=a9ATAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA575, Denis Diderot - A. Belin, 1818
“Nenhum homem recebeu da natureza o direito de comandar os outros.”
Aucun homme n'a reçu de la nature le droit de commander aux autres
"Autorité" in: "Œuvres de Denis Diderot", Volume 13 - Página 386 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=e6UGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA386, Denis Diderot, Jacques André Naigeon - J.L.J. Brière, 1821
On ne retient presque rien sans le secours des mots, et les mots ne suffisent presque jamais pour rendre précisément ce que l'on sent
"Pensées Détachées sur la Peinture" in: "Oeuvres de Denis Diderot", Volume 4 - Página 530 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=a9ATAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA530, Denis Diderot - A. Belin, 1818
“Cada século tem um espírito que o caracteriza: o espírito do nosso parece ser o da liberdade.”
Chaque siècle a son esprit qui le caractérise. L'esprit du nôtre semble être celui de la liberté.
Oeuvres complètes de Diderot: revues sur les éditions originales, comprenant ce qui a été publié à diverses époques et les manuscrits inédits, conservés à la Bibliothèque de l'Ermitage, notices, notes, table analytique, Volume 20 - Página 221, Denis Diderot - Garnier frères, 1877
“A sabedoria não é outra coisa senão a ciência da felicidade.”
citado em "Frases Geniais" - Página 14, de PAULO BUCHSBAUM - Editora Ediouro Publicações, ISBN 8500015330, 9788500015335
“A paixão destrói mais preconceitos do que a filosofia.”
Les passions détruisent plus de préjugés que la philosophie.
"Entretiens sur le Fils naturel" in "Œuvres de Denis Diderot", Volume 6 - Página 387 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=QUcHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA387, Denis Diderot - A. Belin, 1819
“Apenas há um dever: o de sermos felizes.”
A parler rigoureusement, il n'ya qu'un devoir; c'est d'être heureux
"Essai sur les règnes de Claude et de Néron" in: "Oeuvres de Denis Diderot", Volume 6 - Página 235 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=UM4TAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA235, Denis Diderot - A. Belin, 1819
Si la raison est un don du Ciel et que l'on en puisse dire autant de la foi, le Ciel nous a fait deux présents incompatibles et contradictoires.
"Pensées Philosophiques" in: Œuvres de Denis Diderot, Volume 1 - Página 245 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=1KIGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA245, item V, Denis Diderot, Jacques André Naigeon - J.L.J. Brière, 1821
“Quando o padre apoia uma inovação, ela é má; quando se lhe opõe, ela é boa.”
Lorsque le prêtre favorise une innovation, elle est mauvaise : lorsqu'il s'y oppose, elle est bonne.
Oeuvres philosphiques de Denis Diderot: Suite de l'apologie de M. l'abbé de Prades. - Volume 2, Página 241 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=ywFSjC_rqC4C&pg=PA241, item CXXXIX, Denis Diderot - Librairie philosophique, 1752
“A superstição ofende mais a Deus do que o ateísmo.”
la superstition est plus injurieuse à Dieu que l'athéisme.
"Pensées Philosophiques" in "Œuvres de Denis Diderot", Volume 1 - Página 107 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=3zIHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA107, item XII, Denis Diderot - A. Belin, 1818
“Devem exigir que eu procure a verdade, não que a encontre.”
On doit exiger de moi que .je cherche la vérité, mais non que je la trouve.
Pensées philosophiques - Página 61 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=sowNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA61, item XXIX, Denis Diderot - Aux dépens de la Compagnie, 1746 - 136 páginas
“O dinheiro dos tolos é o património dos espertos.”
l' argent des sots est le patrimoine des gens d'esprit
"Le Neveu de Rameau" in: "Oeuvres de Denis Diderot", Volume 21 - Página 130 http://books.google.com.br/books?id=H7F23soJOoQC&pg=PA130, Denis Diderot, Jacques André Naigeon - J. L. J. Briére, 1821
Diderot. The Many Faces of Philosophy : Reflections from Plato to Arendt - Página 237, Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0195134028
“Em sublime, não é necessário que a elegância seja observada; isto enfraquece-a.”
Dans le sublime, il ne faut pas que l'élégance se remarque; elle l'affoibliroit.
Encyclopédie Ou Dictionnaire Raisonné Des Sciences, Des Arts Et Des Métiers: Do - Esy. 5 - Volume 5 - página 483 https://books.google.com.br/books?id=dBxNAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA483, Denis Diderot, Jean Le Rond d' Alembert, Editora Briasson, 1755, 1011 páginas
Article on Philosophy, Vol. 25, p. 667, as quoted in Main Currents of Western Thought : Readings in Western European Intellectual History from the Middle Ages to the Present (1978) by Franklin Le Van Baumer
Variant translation: Reason is to the philosopher what grace is to the Christian. Grace moves the Christian to act, reason moves the philosopher. Other men walk in darkness; the philosopher, who has the same passions, acts only after reflection; he walks through the night, but it is preceded by a torch. The philosopher forms his principles on an infinity of particular observations. … He does not confuse truth with plausibility; he takes for truth what is true, for forgery what is false, for doubtful what is doubtful, and probable what is probable. … The philosophical spirit is thus a spirit of observation and accuracy.
L'Encyclopédie (1751-1766)
Contexto: Reason is to the philosopher what grace is to the Christian.
Grace causes the Christian to act, reason the philosopher. Other men are carried away by their passions, their actions not being preceded by reflection: these are the men who walk in darkness. On the other hand, the philosopher, even in his passions, acts only after reflection; he walks in the dark, but by a torch.
The philosopher forms his principles from an infinity of particular observations. Most people adopt principles without thinking of the observations that have produced them, they believe the maxims exist, so to speak, by themselves. But the philosopher takes maxims from their source; he examines their origin; he knows their proper value, and he makes use of them only in so far as they suit him.
Truth is not for the philosopher a mistress who corrupts his imagination and whom he believes to be found everywhere; he contents himself with being able to unravel it where he can perceive it. He does not confound it with probability; he takes for true what is true, for false what is false, for doubtful what is doubtful, and probable what is only probable. He does more, and here you have a great perfection of the philosopher: when he has no reason by which to judge, he knows how to live in suspension of judgment...
The philosophical spirit is, then, a spirit of observation and exactness, which relates everything to true principles...
Article on Wealth
L'Encyclopédie (1751-1766)
The character Suzanne Simon, in La Religieuse [The Nun] (1796)
No. 15
On the Interpretation of Nature (1753)
Contexto: There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge available to us: observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination. Our observation of nature must be diligent, our reflection profound, and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined; and for this reason, creative geniuses are not common.
“Life is but a series of misunderstandings.”
Fonte: Jacques the Fatalist
“There's a bit of testicle at the bottom of our most sublime feelings and our purest tenderness.”
Il y a un peu de testicule au fond de nos sentiments les plus sublimes et de notre tendresse la plus épurée.
Letter to Étienne Noël Damilaville (1760-11-03)
Fonte: Pensées Philosophiques (1746), Ch. 5, as quoted in Selected Writings (1966) edited by Lester G. Crocker
“All abstract sciences are nothing but the study of relations between signs.”
Dr. Théophile de Bordeu, in “Conversation Between D’Alembert and Diderot”
D’Alembert’s Dream (1769)
Je m’entretiens avec moi-même de politique, d’amour, de goût ou de philosophie ; j’abandonne mon esprit à tout son libertinage ; je le laisse maître de suivre la première idée sage ou folle qui se présente … Mes pensées ce sont mes catins.
Variant translations:
My ideas are my whores.
My thoughts are my trollops.
Rameau's Nephew (1762)
“Good music is very close to primitive language.”
"Correspondence of Ideas with the Motion of Organs"
Elements of Physiology (1875)
“The philosopher forms his principles from an infinity of particular observations.”
Article on Philosophy, Vol. 25, p. 667, as quoted in Main Currents of Western Thought : Readings in Western European Intellectual History from the Middle Ages to the Present (1978) by Franklin Le Van Baumer
Variant translation: Reason is to the philosopher what grace is to the Christian. Grace moves the Christian to act, reason moves the philosopher. Other men walk in darkness; the philosopher, who has the same passions, acts only after reflection; he walks through the night, but it is preceded by a torch. The philosopher forms his principles on an infinity of particular observations. … He does not confuse truth with plausibility; he takes for truth what is true, for forgery what is false, for doubtful what is doubtful, and probable what is probable. … The philosophical spirit is thus a spirit of observation and accuracy.
L'Encyclopédie (1751-1766)
Contexto: Reason is to the philosopher what grace is to the Christian.
Grace causes the Christian to act, reason the philosopher. Other men are carried away by their passions, their actions not being preceded by reflection: these are the men who walk in darkness. On the other hand, the philosopher, even in his passions, acts only after reflection; he walks in the dark, but by a torch.
The philosopher forms his principles from an infinity of particular observations. Most people adopt principles without thinking of the observations that have produced them, they believe the maxims exist, so to speak, by themselves. But the philosopher takes maxims from their source; he examines their origin; he knows their proper value, and he makes use of them only in so far as they suit him.
Truth is not for the philosopher a mistress who corrupts his imagination and whom he believes to be found everywhere; he contents himself with being able to unravel it where he can perceive it. He does not confound it with probability; he takes for true what is true, for false what is false, for doubtful what is doubtful, and probable what is only probable. He does more, and here you have a great perfection of the philosopher: when he has no reason by which to judge, he knows how to live in suspension of judgment...
The philosophical spirit is, then, a spirit of observation and exactness, which relates everything to true principles...
No. 15
On the Interpretation of Nature (1753)
Contexto: There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge available to us: observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination. Our observation of nature must be diligent, our reflection profound, and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined; and for this reason, creative geniuses are not common.
“What is this world? A complex whole, subject to endless revolutions.”
Dying words of Nicholas Saunderson as portrayed in Lettre sur les aveugles [Letter on the Blind] (1749)
Variant translation:
What is this world of ours? A complex entity subject to sudden changes which all indicate a tendency to destruction; a swift succession of beings which follow one another, assert themselves and disappear; a fleeting symmetry; a momentary order.
Contexto: What is this world? A complex whole, subject to endless revolutions. All these revolutions show a continual tendency to destruction; a swift succession of beings who follow one another, press forward, and vanish; a fleeting symmetry; the order of a moment. I reproached you just now with estimating the perfection of things by your own capacity; and I might accuse you here of measuring its duration by the length of your own days. You judge of the continuous existence of the world, as an ephemeral insect might judge of yours. The world is eternal for you, as you are eternal to the being that lives but for one instant. Yet the insect is the more reasonable of the two. For what a prodigious succession of ephemeral generations attests your eternity! What an immeasurable tradition! Yet shall we all pass away, without the possibility of assigning either the real extension that we filled in space, or the precise time that we shall have endured. Time, matter, space — all, it may be, are no more than a point.
“Time, matter, space — all, it may be, are no more than a point.”
Dying words of Nicholas Saunderson as portrayed in Lettre sur les aveugles [Letter on the Blind] (1749)
Variant translation:
What is this world of ours? A complex entity subject to sudden changes which all indicate a tendency to destruction; a swift succession of beings which follow one another, assert themselves and disappear; a fleeting symmetry; a momentary order.
Contexto: What is this world? A complex whole, subject to endless revolutions. All these revolutions show a continual tendency to destruction; a swift succession of beings who follow one another, press forward, and vanish; a fleeting symmetry; the order of a moment. I reproached you just now with estimating the perfection of things by your own capacity; and I might accuse you here of measuring its duration by the length of your own days. You judge of the continuous existence of the world, as an ephemeral insect might judge of yours. The world is eternal for you, as you are eternal to the being that lives but for one instant. Yet the insect is the more reasonable of the two. For what a prodigious succession of ephemeral generations attests your eternity! What an immeasurable tradition! Yet shall we all pass away, without the possibility of assigning either the real extension that we filled in space, or the precise time that we shall have endured. Time, matter, space — all, it may be, are no more than a point.
“The arbitrary rule of a just and enlightened prince is always bad.”
"Refutation of Helvétius" (written 1773-76, published 1875)
Contexto: The arbitrary rule of a just and enlightened prince is always bad. His virtues are the most dangerous and the surest form of seduction: they lull a people imperceptibly into the habit of loving, respecting, and serving his successor, whoever that successor may be, no matter how wicked or stupid.
“How old the world is! I walk between two eternities…”
Salon of 1767 (1798), Oeuvres esthétiques <!-- p. 644 -->
Contexto: How old the world is! I walk between two eternities... What is my fleeting existence in comparison with that decaying rock, that valley digging its channel ever deeper, that forest that is tottering and those great masses above my head about to fall? I see the marble of tombs crumbling into dust; and yet I don’t want to die!
"Supplement to Bougainville's Voyage" (1796)
Variant translation:
Never allow yourselves to forget that it is for their own sakes and not for yours that all those wise lawgivers have forced you into your present unnatural and rigid molds. And as evidence of this, I need only produce all our political, civil, and religious institutions. Examine them thoroughly, and either I am very much mistaken or you will find that mankind has been forced to bow, century after century, beneath a mere handful of scoundrels has conspired, in ever age, to impose upon it. Beware of the man who wants to set things in order. Setting things in order always involves acquiring mastery over others — by tying them hand and foot.
As translated by Derek Coleman, in Diderot's Selected Writings (1966)
Contexto: As for our celebrated lawgivers, who have cast us in our present awkward mold, you may be sure that they have acted to serve their interests and not ours. Witness all our political, civil, and religious institutions — examine them thoroughly: unless I am very much mistaken, you will see how, through the ages, the human race has been broken to the halter that a handful of rascals were itching to impose. Watch out for the fellow who talks about putting things in order! Putting things in order always means getting other people under your control.
“Conversation Between D’Alembert and Diderot”, as quoted in Selected Writings (1966) edited by Lester G. Crocker, and The Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations of Modern Culture (2004) by Louis K Dupré, p. 30
Variant translation: See this egg. It is with this that all the schools of theology and all the temples of the earth are to be overturned.
As quoted in Diderot, Reason and Resonance (1982) by Élisabeth de Fontenay, p. 217
D’Alembert’s Dream (1769)
Contexto: Do you see this egg? With this you can topple every theological theory, every church or temple in the world. What is it, this egg, before the seed is introduced into it? An insentient mass. And after the seed has been introduced to into it? What is it then? An insentient mass. For what is the seed itself other than a crude and inanimate fluid? How is this mass to make a transition to a different structure, to sentience, to life? Through heat. And what will produce that heat in it? Motion.
As quoted in "Diderot" in The Great Infidels (1881) by Robert Green Ingersoll; The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll Vol. III (1900), p. 367
Contexto: The more man ascends through the past, and the more he launches into the future, the greater he will be, and all these philosophers and ministers and truth-telling men who have fallen victims to the stupidity of nations, the atrocities of priests, the fury of tyrants, what consolation was left for them in death? This: That prejudice would pass, and that posterity would pour out the vial of ignominy upon their enemies. O Posterity! Holy and sacred stay of the unhappy and the oppressed; thou who art just, thou who art incorruptible, thou who findest the good man, who unmaskest the hypocrite, who breakest down the tyrant, may thy sure faith, thy consoling faith never, never abandon me!
Article on Philosophy, Vol. 25, p. 667, as quoted in Main Currents of Western Thought : Readings in Western European Intellectual History from the Middle Ages to the Present (1978) by Franklin Le Van Baumer
Variant translation: Reason is to the philosopher what grace is to the Christian. Grace moves the Christian to act, reason moves the philosopher. Other men walk in darkness; the philosopher, who has the same passions, acts only after reflection; he walks through the night, but it is preceded by a torch. The philosopher forms his principles on an infinity of particular observations. … He does not confuse truth with plausibility; he takes for truth what is true, for forgery what is false, for doubtful what is doubtful, and probable what is probable. … The philosophical spirit is thus a spirit of observation and accuracy.
L'Encyclopédie (1751-1766)
Contexto: Reason is to the philosopher what grace is to the Christian.
Grace causes the Christian to act, reason the philosopher. Other men are carried away by their passions, their actions not being preceded by reflection: these are the men who walk in darkness. On the other hand, the philosopher, even in his passions, acts only after reflection; he walks in the dark, but by a torch.
The philosopher forms his principles from an infinity of particular observations. Most people adopt principles without thinking of the observations that have produced them, they believe the maxims exist, so to speak, by themselves. But the philosopher takes maxims from their source; he examines their origin; he knows their proper value, and he makes use of them only in so far as they suit him.
Truth is not for the philosopher a mistress who corrupts his imagination and whom he believes to be found everywhere; he contents himself with being able to unravel it where he can perceive it. He does not confound it with probability; he takes for true what is true, for false what is false, for doubtful what is doubtful, and probable what is only probable. He does more, and here you have a great perfection of the philosopher: when he has no reason by which to judge, he knows how to live in suspension of judgment...
The philosophical spirit is, then, a spirit of observation and exactness, which relates everything to true principles...
Observations on the Drawing Up of Laws (1774)
Contexto: In any country where talent and virtue produce no advancement, money will be the national god. Its inhabitants will either have to possess money or make others believe that they do. Wealth will be the highest virtue, poverty the greatest vice. Those who have money will display it in every imaginable way. If their ostentation does not exceed their fortune, all will be well. But if their ostentation does exceed their fortune they will ruin themselves. In such a country, the greatest fortunes will vanish in the twinkling of an eye. Those who don't have money will ruin themselves with vain efforts to conceal their poverty. That is one kind of affluence: the outward sign of wealth for a small number, the mask of poverty for the majority, and a source of corruption for all.
Lettre sur les aveugles [Letter on the Blind] (1749)
Contexto: As to all the outward signs that awaken within us feelings of sympathy and compassion, the blind are only affected by crying; I suspect them in general of lacking humanity. What difference is there for a blind man, between a man who is urinating, and man who, without crying out, is bleeding? And we ourselves, do we not cease to commiserate, when the distance or the smallness of the objects in question produce the same effect on us as the lack of sight produces in the blind man? All our virtues depend on the faculty of the senses, and on the degree to which external things affect us. Thus I do not doubt that, except for the fear of punishment, many people would not feel any remorse for killing a man from a distance at which he appeared no larger than a swallow. No more, at any rate, than they would for slaughtering a cow up close. If we feel compassion for a horse that suffers, but if we squash an ant without any scruple, isn’t the same principle at work?
“People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it.”
Rameau's Nephew (1762)
Contexto: People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it. It freezes you to death, and in this world you've got to keep your feet warm.
“And his hands would plait the priest's entrails,
For want of a rope, to strangle kings.”
Et ses mains ourdiraient les entrailles du prêtre,
Au défaut d’un cordon pour étrangler les rois.
"Les Éleuthéromanes", in Poésies Diverses (1875)
Variant translation: His hands would plait the priest's guts, if he had no rope, to strangle kings.
This derives from the prior statement widely attributed to Jean Meslier: "I would like — and this would be the last and most ardent of my wishes — I would like the last of the kings to be strangled by the guts of the last priest". It is often claimed the passage appears in Meslier's Testament (1725) but it only appears in abstracts of the work written by others. See the Wikipedia article Jean Meslier for details.
Let us strangle the last king with the guts of the last priest.
Attributed to Diderot by Jean-François de La Harpe in Cours de Littérature Ancienne et Moderne (1840)
Attributions to Diderot of similar statements also occur in various forms, i.e.: "Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."
Variante: Et des boyaux du dernier prêtre
Serrons le cou du dernier roi.
“From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step.”
Essai sur le Mérite de la Vertu (1745); a translation and adaptation of Inquiry concerning Virtue or Merit (1699) by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury
Fonte: Essai sur le mérite et la vertu
