5 Philosophical Quotes, and Why I Love Them

When I first started studying philosophy, I created a Word document where I could collect quotes from texts I was reading that I found particularly meaningful. Almost a decade later, I’m still adding to that document.

One of the unanticipated joys of keeping such a document is that it lets me look back on my former self and observe what I’ve found particularly meaningful over time. Some of the quotes no longer resonate much with me, while others have deepened in their significance.

Below are five of my favorite quotes from that document, along with explanations of why I like them so much.

I’ve written this post, in part, because it’s valuable to share the words of others that we find meaningful. But I also write this post as a limited form of autobiography; as a sort of memoir of the changing contours and consistent themes of my own study of philosophy.

My hope is that for those inspired by similar impulses to explore the world of ideas and arguments found in philosophy, that these quotes might resonate in a meaningful way.

1. “With regard to the gods, I cannot feel sure either that they are or that they are not, nor what they are like in figure; for there are many things that hinder sure knowledge, the obscurity of the subject and the shortness of human life.”