I am fascinated by Spinoza's pantheism, but admire even more his contributions to modern thought because he is the first philosopher to deal with the soul and the body as one, not two separate things
What must the English and French think of the language of our philosophers when we Germans do not understand it ourselves?
Being a professional philosopher is, I would say, feeling natural to think about small and great problems. It is the only pleasure.
There never was and is not likely soon to be a nation of philosophers, nor am I certain it is desirable that there should be.
Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.
Man's greatest battle is being a true philosopher.
The philosopher says that God's knowledge is the measure of things, and that things are the measure of man's knowledge.
Every man will be a poet if he can; otherwise a philosopher or man of science. This proves the superiority of the poet.
In the words of the philosopher Sceptum, the founder of my profession: am I going to get paid for this?
The unambitious sluggard pretends that the eminence is not worth attaining, declines altogether the struggle, and calls himself a philosopher. I say he is a poor-spirited coward.
Camus believed in dialogue and diplomacy, and enlisted his work as a philosopher to the need to find nonviolent solutions, whereas Sartre called for violent conflicts and justified terror.
What I understand by "philosopher": a terrible explosive in the presence of which everything is in danger.
The philosopher says--I am, and the church scouts his philosophy. She answers:--No! you are NOT, you have no existence of your own. You were and are and ever will be only a part of the supreme I AM, of which the church is the emblem.
A philosopher is aspires to explain away all mysteries, to dissolve them into light.
What we philosophers can do is just correct the questions.
Philosophy goes no further than probabilities, and in every assertion keeps a doubt in reserve.
Paul indeed wanted to reveal the unknown God to the philosophers and then affirms of Him, that no human intellect can conceive Him. Therefore, God is revealed therein, that one knows that every intellect is too small to make itself a figuration or concept of Him. However, he names him God, or in Greek, theos.
I never think in terms of alienation; it's the others who do. Alienation means one thing to Hegel, another to Marx and yet another to Freud; so it is not possible to give a single definition, one that will exhaust the subject. It is a question bordering on philosophy, and I'm not a philosopher nor a sociologist. My business is to tell stories, to narrate with images - nothing else. If I do make films about alienation - to use that word that is so ambiguous - they are about characters, not about me.
A philosopher who is not taking part in discussions is like a boxer who never goes into the ring.
A good philosopher is one who does not take ideas seriously.