A biography for Denis Diderothasn’t been written yet.
“People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it. It freezes you to death, and in this world you've got to keep your feet warm.”
“There is no kind of harassment that a man may not inflict on a woman with impunity in civilized societies.”
“Every man has his dignity. I'm willing to forget mine, but at my own discretion and not when someone else tells me to.”
“Disturbances in society are never more fearful than when those who are stirring up the trouble can use the pretext of religion to mask their true designs.”
“Justice is the first virtue of those who command, and stops the complaints of those who obey.”
“How had they met? By chance, like everybody else. What were there names? What's it to you? Where were they coming from? From the nearest place. Where were they going? Does anyone really know where they're going?”
“Although a man may wear fine clothing, if he lives peacefully; and is good, self-possessed, has faith and is pure; and if he does not hurt any living being, he is a holy man.”
“The blood of Jesus Christ can cover a multitude of sins, it seems to me.”
“Poetry must have something in it that is barbaric, vast and wild.”
“There is only one passion, the passion for happiness.”
“Gratitude is a burden, and every burden is made to be shaken off.”
“There is no good father who would want to resemble our Heavenly Father.”
“Only passions, great passions can elevate the soul to great things.”
“Our observation of nature must be diligent, our reflection profound, and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined; and for this reason, creative geniuses are not common.”
“No man has received from nature the right to command his fellow human beings.”
“Genius is present in every age, but the men carrying it within them remain benumbed unless extraordinary events occur to heat up and melt the mass so that it flows forth.”
“Do you see this egg? With this you can topple every theological theory, every church or temple in the world.”
“His hands would plait the priest's guts, if he had no rope, to strangle kings.”
“We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.”
“There are things I can't force. I must adjust. There are times when the greatest change needed is a change of my viewpoint.”