digg

I read therefor I digg.

#12 - "First principles, Clarice. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this man you seek?"

One from a non-white, non-western philosopher (which I think is fair):

"When truth has no burning, then it is philosophy, when it gets burning from the heart, it becomes poetry."
-- Muhammed Iqbal

And one from a non-male philosopher (which I think is equally fair):

"Women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives in intimate association with their oppressors."
-- Evelyn Cunningham (Not trained in philosophy, but no biggie)

"If there's grass on the field, play ball."

From my logic professor:

All animals are mortal
Cats are animals
Therefore Socrates is a cat

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him." -- Buddha

"How much wood could a wood chuck chuck?"

Good article except for the misuse of "irony".
:/

Finally, a digg article without a theological or political spin. These are some really nice quotes.

There is only one quote I know of that has been able to properly summarize the ludicrous struggle of religions since the dawn of time:

"I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said "Stop! don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!" He said, "Like what?" I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?" He said, "Religious." I said, "Me too! Are you christian or buddhist?" He said, "Christian." I said, "Me too! Are you catholic or protestant?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me too! Are you episcopalian or baptist?" He said, "Baptist!" I said,"Wow! Me too! Are you baptist church of god or baptist church of the lord?" He said, "Baptist church of god!" I said, "Me too! Are you original baptist church of god, or are you reformed baptist church of god?" He said,"Reformed Baptist church of god!" I said, "Me too! Are you reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1879, or reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915?" He said, "Reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915!" I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off." -- Emo Philips

Cool... a whole semester of Beginning Philosophy, summarized into a page.

some from my favorite modern philosopher, Alan Watts: http://thinkexist.com/quotes/alan_watts/ (though I occasionally disagree with his assertions)

"We can be as honest as we are ignorant. If we are, when asked what is beyond the horizon of the known, we must say that we do not know." - Robert Ingersol

"He saw the citizens of his beloved Athens sleepwalking through life, living only for money, power, and fame, so he became famous trying to help them."

Hummmm. Sounds oddly familar to a current situation... somewhere close. What could it be? Dang, it's on the tip of my tongue... Ah, ***** it.

Perhaps the most important philosophical QUESTION that could be asked:

How do you REALLY know you're not dreaming/in the matrix/etc.?

I would say this is by far the most important, because we base so much on the belief that what we're perceiving is real. Whether it's science, which aims to describe reality by assuming that our measurements are OF reality, not of VIRTUAL reality, or religion, which aims to describe reality by assuming that the Bible, etc. are real and not merely virtual reality, it all depends on the assumption that you're perceiving reality in the first place. And even if our assumptions turn out to be usable, in that physics really does describe this stuff, or in that maybe God really is up there, it could still all be in VR, and someone could change the rules and all of the sudden what was a GOOD idea is no longer valid.

Anyone who has studied philosophy will tell you that these quotes don't at all reflect the major breakthroughs in debates throughout philosophical history.

Neat quotes are OK, but a real philosopher would have a solid defense of any assertion. And not having a quotable quote should not keep you off any list of important philosophical contributions.

what, no Niccolo Machiavelli?

"anyone who is the cause of another's becoming powerful comes to ruin himself, because that power is the result either of cunning or of force, and both these two qualities are suspect to the one who has become powerful."

"BEE-YAWWW"

-Howard Dean

I love number six.

“We live in the best of all possible worlds.” – Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

So true, but imagine the possibilities of a perfect world with no evil...

If you plan to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."

"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."

If you immediately know the candlelight is fire, the meal was cooked long ago. --Ohma DeSala

"Philosophers say a great deal about what is absolutely necessary for science, and it is always, so far as one can see, rather naive, and probably wrong." -Richard Feynman

"People may come along and argue philosophically that they like one better than another; but we have learned from much experience that all philosophical intuitions about what nature is going to do fail." -Richard Feynman

"Scientists are explorers. Philosophers are tourists." -Richard Feynman

"Philosophy consists very largely of one philosopher arguing that all others are jackasses. He usually proves it, and I should add that he also usually proves that he is one himself." -Henry Louis Mencken

"Philosophy, n. A route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing." - Ambrose Bierce

"...philosophy is to science as pornography is to sex." - Steve Jones

This is lame. Whoever picked these quotes has no sense of the history of philosophy or the culture that surrounded the men who made these statements. Most of them when taken in chronological order are at there heart an attempt to refute the ideology of the previous - this is especially true with those who came after Descartes. Without any context these quotes only seem important.

I disagree, many of these statements are cornerstone concepts in western culture. Of course, all are open to hermeneutic interpretation....but what seems the overriding factor is that they have been disseminated as they are written in the article. for better or worse.

"OMFG is dead."
F_Nietzsche165438

Why?

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities
- Voltaire

You know what's funny? If there was Prozac back then, these philosophers would have lived normal happy lives. Philosophy is the justifications of the depressed. Not that there is anything wrong with being depressed as long as you become immortal.

I prefer:
"A witty saying proves nothing." -Voltaire, that old snarky bastard.

"You can't arrest me, I'm a rockstar."
~Sid Vicious

When all questions of space, time and matter and the nature of being have been resolved, only one question remains - 'Where shall we have dinner?'