Gaiety is a quality of ordinary men. Genius always presupposes some disorder in the machine.
Denis Diderot – Jacque the Fatalist and his Master
Genius and Gaiety
G
Picture’s Timelessness
P
The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do.
Denis Diderot – Jacque the Fatalist and his Master
Flattery vs. Truth
F
We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.
Denis Diderot – Jacque the Fatalist and his Master
Power vs. Patience
P
In any contest between power and patience, bet on patience.
Denis Diderot – Jacque the Fatalist and his Master
Advising the Conceited
A
To attempt to advise conceited people is like whistling against the wind.
Denis Diderot – Jacque the Fatalist and his Master
Words as Healers
W
Words are the physicians of a mind diseased.
Denis Diderot – Jacque the Fatalist and his Master
Philosophers vs. Priests
P
The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers.
Denis Diderot – Jacque the Fatalist and his Master
Struggle for Freedom
S
Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.
Denis Diderot – Jacque the Fatalist and his Master