Whether God exists or does not exist, He has come to rank among the most sublime and useless truths. - Denis Diderot
Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things. - Denis Diderot
There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it. - Denis Diderot
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. - Denis Diderot
All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone's feelings. - Denis Diderot
People stop thinking when they cease to read. - Denis Diderot
There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge. . . observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination. - Denis Diderot
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. - Denis Diderot
I can be expected to look for truth but not to find it. - Denis Diderot
Watch out for the fellow who talks about putting things in order! Putting things in order always means getting other people under your control. - Denis Diderot
It is very important not to mistake hemlock for parsley; but not at all so to believe or not in God. - Denis Diderot
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? - Denis Diderot
Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest. - Denis Diderot
If you want me to believe in God, you must make me touch him. - Denis Diderot
Do you see this egg? With this you can topple every theological theory, every church or temple in the world. - Denis Diderot
All children are essentially criminal. - Denis Diderot
A thing is not proved just because no one has ever questioned it. What has never been gone into impartially has never been properly gone into. Hence scepticism is the first step toward truth. It must be applied generally, because it is the touchstone. - Denis Diderot
The most dangerous madmen are those created by religion, and ... people whose aim is to disrupt society always know how to make good use of them on occasion. - Denis Diderot