“People are, generally speaking, either dead certain or totally indifferent (Both types are crawling around deep down in the rabbit's fur!)” — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“He was not only the last of the great Greek philosophers, he was Europe's first great biologist.” — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“To be more precise: although philosophical questions concern us all, we do not all become philosophers.” — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“But sorrow can also be contagious. Fear is different. It isn't as communicable as laughter or sadness, and a good thing too.… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“If our brain was simple enough for us to understand it, we would be so stupid we wouldn't be able to understand… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
It is by no means certain that we advance our philosophical quest by reading Plato or Aristotle. It may increase our knowledge… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“The philosopher had rescued her. The unknown letter writer had saved her from the triviality of everyday existence.” — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“But what is a person, George? How much is a person worth? Are we nothing but dust that is whipped up and… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
A philosopher knows that in reality he knows very little. That is why he constantly strives to achieve true insight. Socrates was… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“Perhaps we aren’t fully developed. The physical development of human beings necessarily had to precede the psychological. Perhaps the physical nature of… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“We don't learn anything there [school]. The difference between schoolteachers and philosophers us that school-teachers think they know a lot of stuff… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
Let me put it more precisely: The ability to give birth is a natural characteristic. In the same way, everybody can grasp… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“Man is the measure of all things', said the Sophist Protagora (c. 485-410 B.C.). By that he meant that the question of… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“Don't you think it's a small mystery that birds can twitter so loudly that they can hear each other's song from several… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“From the point of view of pure logic or philosophy, there will often be a dialectical tension between two concepts. For example...… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“A real philosopher, Sophie, is completely different kettle of fish - the direct opposite, in fact. A philosopher knows that in reality… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
Throughout the entire history of philosophy, philosophers have sought to discover what man is - or what human nature is. But Sartre… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“The of sitting a telescope in space was obviously not to get closer to the stars and planets the telescope was to… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“Imagine that one day you are out for a walk in the woods. Suddenly you see a small spaceship on the path… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
Socrates himself said, 'One thing only I know, and this is that I know nothing.' Remember this statement, because it is an… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“and to be quite frank, that is precisely what we need philosophers for. We do not need them to choose a beauty… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“This is precisely where philosophers are a notable exception. A philosopher never gets quite used to the world. to him or her,… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“The Cynics emphasized that true happiness is not found in external advantages such as material luxury, political power, or good health. True… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“Imagine that you were on the threshold of this fairytale, sometime billions of years ago when everything was created. And you were… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“It seems as if in the process of growing up we lose the ability to wonder about the world. And in doing… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“I've nothing against eye make-up and lipstick. But the fact is we're actually living on a planet in space. For me that's… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share Image
“I no longer feel the need to see and sense more than I've already experienced. I just want so desperately to hang on what… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share
The sophists were as a rule men who had traveled widely and seen different forms of government. Both conventions and local laws in the… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share
Where did the world come from? The question has an answer, even though I cannot get to it. It is a good question. It… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share
“As soon as she concentrated on being alive now, the thought of dying also came into her mind.” — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share
“Po haljini sam mogao da vidim kako njeno telo diše, jer se haljina dizala i spuštala, dizala i spuštala, skoro kao da morski talasi… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share
Since the Renaissance, people have had to get used to living their life on a random planet in the vast galaxy. — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share
“The German poet Goethe once said that "he who cannot draw on three thousand years is living from hand to mouth." I don't want… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share
“Sophie left the den and wandered about in the large garden. She tried to forget what she had learned at school, especially in science… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share
...long before the child learns to talk properly-and long before it learns to think philosophically-the world will have become a habit. A pity, if… — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share
“We can't own each other's past. The question is whether we have a future together.” — Jostein Gaarder Copy Share