Philosophy Bits
@philosophybits.com
A collection of fine philosophical and literary quotations. Curated by @suliqyre.com
philosophybits.com
philosophybits.com
“Every advance in civilization has been denounced as unnatural while it was recent.”
— Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays
— Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays
November 25, 2025 at 8:21 PM
“Every advance in civilization has been denounced as unnatural while it was recent.”
— Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays
— Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays
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“All art is partly about struggle, about discovering the courage to overcome. This is shown through the existence of every last artwork, regardless of whether it takes the form of a painting, a performance, or a poem. Every artwork helps us become stronger, more courageous, more defiant beings.”
220. An Endless Struggle
Making art means struggling with the problem of expression. There’s something you see and you need to share it with others. But you can’t communicate it directly, for you know your words will not be a...
suliqyre.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:48 PM
“All art is partly about struggle, about discovering the courage to overcome. This is shown through the existence of every last artwork, regardless of whether it takes the form of a painting, a performance, or a poem. Every artwork helps us become stronger, more courageous, more defiant beings.”
“Love has a way of cheating itself consciously, like a child who plays at solitary hide-and-seek; it is pleased with assurances that it all the while disbelieves.”
— George Eliot, Adam Bede
— George Eliot, Adam Bede
November 25, 2025 at 4:53 PM
“Love has a way of cheating itself consciously, like a child who plays at solitary hide-and-seek; it is pleased with assurances that it all the while disbelieves.”
— George Eliot, Adam Bede
— George Eliot, Adam Bede
“The engagement of the imagination is the only thing that makes any activity more than mechanical.”
— John Dewey, Democracy and Education
— John Dewey, Democracy and Education
November 25, 2025 at 3:13 AM
“The engagement of the imagination is the only thing that makes any activity more than mechanical.”
— John Dewey, Democracy and Education
— John Dewey, Democracy and Education
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“Writing or saying the truth is equivalent to death, since we cannot tell the truth. It is forbidden because it hurts everyone. We never say the truth, we must lie, mostly as a result of our two needs: our need for love and cowardice.”
— Hélène Cixous, Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing
— Hélène Cixous, Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing
November 24, 2025 at 11:47 PM
“Writing or saying the truth is equivalent to death, since we cannot tell the truth. It is forbidden because it hurts everyone. We never say the truth, we must lie, mostly as a result of our two needs: our need for love and cowardice.”
— Hélène Cixous, Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing
— Hélène Cixous, Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing
“The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell.”
— Simone Weil, “Human Personality”
— Simone Weil, “Human Personality”
November 24, 2025 at 8:11 PM
“The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell.”
— Simone Weil, “Human Personality”
— Simone Weil, “Human Personality”
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“For many people, this kind of community does not exist. It has become so easy to meet our material needs through transactional means that community is now felt to be unnecessary. The social benefits of community are no longer believed to be worth the social burdens that follow from it.”
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219. Community Benefits
To be in community with others means understanding you are part of a greater whole. It means knowing other people and being known by them. It means developing lasting relationships that are both carin...
suliqyre.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:50 PM
“For many people, this kind of community does not exist. It has become so easy to meet our material needs through transactional means that community is now felt to be unnecessary. The social benefits of community are no longer believed to be worth the social burdens that follow from it.”
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“Disputes are multiplied, as if every thing was uncertain; and these disputes are managed with the greatest warmth, as if everything was certain.”
— David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature
— David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature
November 24, 2025 at 4:58 PM
“Disputes are multiplied, as if every thing was uncertain; and these disputes are managed with the greatest warmth, as if everything was certain.”
— David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature
— David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature
“One understands only in proportion to becoming himself that which he understands.”
— Søren Kierkegaard, Journals and Papers
— Søren Kierkegaard, Journals and Papers
November 24, 2025 at 3:04 AM
“One understands only in proportion to becoming himself that which he understands.”
— Søren Kierkegaard, Journals and Papers
— Søren Kierkegaard, Journals and Papers
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“The past – as something that remains self-identical and is always to be retrieved in the same form – does not exist. Digital memory consists of indifferent – as it were, undead – points of presence. It lacks the extended horizon constituting the temporality of the living.
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November 23, 2025 at 11:55 PM
“The past – as something that remains self-identical and is always to be retrieved in the same form – does not exist. Digital memory consists of indifferent – as it were, undead – points of presence. It lacks the extended horizon constituting the temporality of the living.
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“He who thinks a great deal is not suited to be a party man: he thinks his way through the party and out the other side too soon.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human
November 23, 2025 at 8:35 PM
“He who thinks a great deal is not suited to be a party man: he thinks his way through the party and out the other side too soon.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human
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“The only person who can make you more aware is you. Others can encourage your awareness, they can provide you with opportunities to see more, but it is you who must allow yourself to look.”
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“You Must Save Yourself”, etc. (216-220)
The only person who can make you more aware is you. Others can encourage your awareness, but it is you who must allow yourself to look.
suliqyre.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:08 PM
“The only person who can make you more aware is you. Others can encourage your awareness, they can provide you with opportunities to see more, but it is you who must allow yourself to look.”
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“When we ask for the abolition of the State and its organs we are always told that we dream of a society composed of men better than they are in reality. But no; a thousand times, no. All we ask is that men should not be made worse than they are, by such institutions.”
— Peter Kropotkin
— Peter Kropotkin
November 23, 2025 at 4:56 PM
“When we ask for the abolition of the State and its organs we are always told that we dream of a society composed of men better than they are in reality. But no; a thousand times, no. All we ask is that men should not be made worse than they are, by such institutions.”
— Peter Kropotkin
— Peter Kropotkin
“It is not to live that should be deemed most important, but to live well.”
— Socrates, in Plato’s Crito
— Socrates, in Plato’s Crito
November 23, 2025 at 3:07 AM
“It is not to live that should be deemed most important, but to live well.”
— Socrates, in Plato’s Crito
— Socrates, in Plato’s Crito
“To risk one’s life, in fact, is to reveal oneself as not-bound to the objective form or to any determined existence — as not-bound to life.”
— Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness
— Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness
November 22, 2025 at 8:58 PM
“To risk one’s life, in fact, is to reveal oneself as not-bound to the objective form or to any determined existence — as not-bound to life.”
— Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness
— Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness
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“Or at least, she thinks she connects with others. This is what most scares her. If so much of her is hidden, and so much of them is hidden, then what is really being connected? Who are the entities that are connecting? Are they real people, and is one of them her?”
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218. The Deepest Self
Everything she shows others is carefully managed. She does not allow them to see any part of her that might lower her in their eyes. Problems and blemishes are kept hidden, tucked out of sight or cove...
suliqyre.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:24 PM
“Or at least, she thinks she connects with others. This is what most scares her. If so much of her is hidden, and so much of them is hidden, then what is really being connected? Who are the entities that are connecting? Are they real people, and is one of them her?”
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“They tease me now, telling me it was only a dream. But does it matter whether it was a dream or reality, if the dream made known to me the truth?
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November 22, 2025 at 4:20 PM
“They tease me now, telling me it was only a dream. But does it matter whether it was a dream or reality, if the dream made known to me the truth?
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“When one is frightened of the truth then it is never the whole truth that one has an inkling of.”
— Ludwig Wittgenstein, Notebooks, 1914-1916
— Ludwig Wittgenstein, Notebooks, 1914-1916
November 22, 2025 at 2:45 AM
“When one is frightened of the truth then it is never the whole truth that one has an inkling of.”
— Ludwig Wittgenstein, Notebooks, 1914-1916
— Ludwig Wittgenstein, Notebooks, 1914-1916
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“Art that plays with the idea of mechanical reproduction — the obvious example is the work of Andy Warhol — teaches us something of what it would be like to be a thing, an object.”
— Zadie Smith, “Man Versus Corpse”
— Zadie Smith, “Man Versus Corpse”
November 22, 2025 at 1:00 AM
“Art that plays with the idea of mechanical reproduction — the obvious example is the work of Andy Warhol — teaches us something of what it would be like to be a thing, an object.”
— Zadie Smith, “Man Versus Corpse”
— Zadie Smith, “Man Versus Corpse”
“Incidental truths of history can never furnish the proof of necessary truths of reason.”
— Gotthold Lessing, “On the Proof of the Spirit and of Power”
— Gotthold Lessing, “On the Proof of the Spirit and of Power”
November 21, 2025 at 8:42 PM
“Incidental truths of history can never furnish the proof of necessary truths of reason.”
— Gotthold Lessing, “On the Proof of the Spirit and of Power”
— Gotthold Lessing, “On the Proof of the Spirit and of Power”
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“To eliminate my anxiety, I need to see the attachment that's producing it and loosen myself from it. But when I'm burdened by the immense weight of the feeling, it can be incredibly difficult to do this effectively. I first need to shift my attention in order for the feeling to weaken.”
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217. Anxiety And Attention
An intense feeling of anxiety can be overwhelming. It can become almost impossible for me to remain present and attentive to what I must do in the moment when I am totally consumed by worry.
To elimin...
suliqyre.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:38 PM
“To eliminate my anxiety, I need to see the attachment that's producing it and loosen myself from it. But when I'm burdened by the immense weight of the feeling, it can be incredibly difficult to do this effectively. I first need to shift my attention in order for the feeling to weaken.”
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“Mystical faith and dependence on that which now exists, the old and well-known — and mystical hope and joy in everything to come — the new, unknown — these are two very important character traits of humanity hitherto.”
— Novalis, Logological Fragments I
— Novalis, Logological Fragments I
November 21, 2025 at 5:12 PM
“Mystical faith and dependence on that which now exists, the old and well-known — and mystical hope and joy in everything to come — the new, unknown — these are two very important character traits of humanity hitherto.”
— Novalis, Logological Fragments I
— Novalis, Logological Fragments I
“One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius.”
— Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
— Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
November 21, 2025 at 2:33 AM
“One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius.”
— Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
— Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
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“There is a way to Reality in and through the soul, and there is a way to Reality in and through the world. Whether the ultimate goal can be reached by following either of these ways to the exclusion of the other is to be doubted.
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November 20, 2025 at 11:24 PM
“There is a way to Reality in and through the soul, and there is a way to Reality in and through the world. Whether the ultimate goal can be reached by following either of these ways to the exclusion of the other is to be doubted.
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“The truth of art lies in its power to break the monopoly of established reality… to define what is real.”
— Herbert Marcuse, The Aesthetic Dimension
— Herbert Marcuse, The Aesthetic Dimension
November 20, 2025 at 8:03 PM
“The truth of art lies in its power to break the monopoly of established reality… to define what is real.”
— Herbert Marcuse, The Aesthetic Dimension
— Herbert Marcuse, The Aesthetic Dimension