As translated in Diderot (1977) by Otis Fellows, p. 39
Variant translations:
One declaims endlessly against the passions; one imputes all of man's suffering to them. One forgets that they are also the source of all his pleasures.
Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.
Pensées Philosophiques (1746)
Source: Pensées philosophiques
Context: We are constantly railing against the passions; we ascribe to them all of man’s afflictions, and we forget that they are also the source of all his pleasures … But what provokes me is that only their adverse side is considered … and yet only passions, and great passions, can raise the soul to great things. Without them there is no sublimity, either in morals or in creativity. Art returns to infancy, and virtue becomes small-minded.
“It's always such a pleasure to have Germans enlighten us on the best way to move large groups of sick, downtrodden people by rail. The only motivation I can ascribe to such behavior is that same one that propels young dim boys to tear the wings off flies.”
TRIBES https://web.archive.org/web/20050912004041/http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000129.html (5 September 2005)
2000s
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Bill Whittle 38
author, director, screenwriter, editor 1959Related quotes
Quoted in BBC obituary 4 July 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18703602
The New York Times, September 8, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/opinion/09friedman.html.
Source: The Invisible Bankers, Everything The Insurance Industry Never Wanted You To Know (1982), Chapter 11, Too Many Underwriters, Too Many Agents, p. 196.
“When I was a boy the Dead Sea was only sick.”
1950s, What Desires Are Politically Important? (1950)