Quotes from book
Philosophical thoughts

Name: Philosophical thoughts
Author: Denis Diderot

Denis Diderot

Philosophical Thoughts is a 1746 book composed by Denis Diderot; it was his first original work.

“Scepticism is the first step towards truth.”

Denis Diderot book Philosophical thoughts

As quoted in The Anchor Book of French Quotations with English Translations (1963) by Norbert Gutermam
Pensées Philosophiques (1746)
Variant: A thing is not proved just because no one has ever questioned it. What has never been gone into impartially has never been properly gone into. Hence skepticism is the first step toward truth. It must be applied generally, because it is the touchstone.
Variant: The first step towards philosophy is incredulity.
Source: Pensées philosophiques

“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”

Denis Diderot book Philosophical thoughts

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.