Whoever wishes to become a philosopher must learn not to be frightened by absurdities.
I do not know what the spirit of a philosopher could more wish to be than a good dancer. For the dance is his ideal, also his fine art, finally also the only kind of piety he knows, his 'divine service.'
Clarity is the good faith of philosophers.
Thoughts at peace. That is the goal someone who philosophizes longs for.
The philosopher should never forget that he is cultivating an art and not a science.
© Hans Jürgen Heringer
Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.
To the poet, to the philosopher, to the saint, all things are friendly and sacred, all events profitable, all days holy, all men divine.
The beard does not make the philosopher.
The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.
For there was never yet philosopher That could endure the toothache patiently.
First, anyone who seriously intends to become a philosopher must "once in his life" withdraw into himself and attempt, within himself, to overthrow and build anew all the sciences that, up to then, he has been accepting.
This is how philosophers should greet each other: "Take your time!"
Put the world’s greatest philosopher on a plank that is wider than need be: if there is a precipice below, although his reason may convince him that he is safe, his imagination will prevail. Many could not even stand the thought of it without going pale and breaking into a sweat.
It is one of the chief skills of the philosopher not to occupy himself with questions which do not concern him.
The poets and philosophers before me discovered the unconscious; what I discovered was the scientific method by which the unconscious can be studied:
Until kings are philosophers or philosophers are kings, cities will never cease from ill.
The first philosophers were astronomers. The heavens remind man … that he is destined not merely to act, but also to contemplate.
The contempt of riches in philosophers was only a hidden desire to avenge their merit upon the injustice of fortune, by despising the very goods of which fortune had deprived them; it was a secret to guard themselves against the degradation of poverty, it was a back way by which to arrive at that distinction which they could not gain by riches.
The attachment or indifference which philosophers have shown to life is only the style of their self love, about which we can no more dispute than of that of the palate or of the choice of colours.
If I became a philosopher, if I have so keenly sought this fame for which I'm still waiting, it's all been to seduce women basically.
Dogs and philosophers do the greatest good and get the fewest rewards.
The man of science is a poor philosopher.
All sciences are now under the obligation to prepare the ground for the future task of the philosopher, which is to solve the problem of value, to determine the true hierarchy of values.
My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you'll be happy if not, you'll become a philosopher.
© Hans Jürgen Heringer
