Philosophy Quotes by Jostein Gaarder

Philosophy is the opposite of fairy tales

— Jostein Gaarder

Wisest is she who knows she does not know.

— Jostein Gaarder

“We are the universe.”

— Jostein Gaarder

“A true philosopher must never give up.”

— Jostein Gaarder

... the only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder...

— Jostein Gaarder

“I can wait until my heart bleeds with sorrow.”

— Jostein Gaarder

“Tampoco tienes derecho a usarte a ti mismo como un mero medio para conseguir algo".”

— Jostein Gaarder

“The earliest Greek philosopher's criticized Homer's mythology because the gods resembled mortals too much and were just as egotistic and treacherous.”

— Jostein Gaarder

“Look at the world, Georg, look at the world before you've filled yourself with too much physics and chemistry.”

— Jostein Gaarder

“All stars fall at some time. But a star is only a tiny spark from the great beacon in the sky.”

— Jostein Gaarder

“It is extraordinary to think about. We still speak of Socratic or Platonic philosophy, but actually being Plato or Socrates is quite…

— Jostein Gaarder

“But if two people do almost nothing except search for one another, it's hardly surprising if they run across each other by…

— Jostein Gaarder

“The faculty of vision can vary from person to person. On the other hand, we can rely on what our reason tells…

— Jostein Gaarder

“Although I've always been easily led by my imagination, I was, and I remain, a rational person.”

— Jostein Gaarder

“It was rather like having been color-blind. She had seen some shadows but had not seen the clear ideas.”

— Jostein Gaarder

“Socrates (770-399 B.C.[E.]) is possibly the most enigmatic figure in the entire history of philosophy. He never wrote a single line. Yet…

— Jostein Gaarder

That fact that Athens could condemn its noblest citizen to death did more than make a profound impression on him. It was…

— Jostein Gaarder

“She sent me a sunny smile, and what a smile, George; it was a smile that could have melted the whole world,…

— Jostein Gaarder

“Sophie found philosophy doubly exciting because she was able to follow all the ideas by using her own common sense - without…

— Jostein Gaarder

“I wonder whether the Christmas feeling has anything to do with the sixth sense. Perhaps we're a little more the angels at…

— Jostein Gaarder

“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

Let me put it more precisely: The ability to give birth is a natural characteristic. In the same way, everybody can grasp…

— Jostein Gaarder

“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

Socrates, whose mother was a midwife, used to say that his art was like the art of the midwife. She does not…

— Jostein Gaarder

“From the point of view of pure logic or philosophy, there will often be a dialectical tension between two concepts. For example...…

— Jostein Gaarder

“Once upon a time, thirty thousand years ago, there lived a little boy in the Rhine valley. He was a tiny part…

— Jostein Gaarder

“She was a stranger. She came from a more beautiful fairytale than ours. But she’d managed to find her way into our…

— Jostein Gaarder

“let's say you and a small child go to a magic show, where things are made to float in the air. Which…

— Jostein Gaarder

Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fall off, but others…

— Jostein Gaarder

“To Summarize briefly: A white rabbit is pulled out of a top hat. Because it is an extremely large rabbit, the trick…

— Jostein Gaarder

“So now you must choose... Are you a child who has not yet become world-weary? Or are you a philosopher who will…

— Jostein Gaarder

“As she closed the gate behind her she noticed her own name on one of the big envelopes. Turning it over, she…

— Jostein Gaarder

“Philosophers are always trying to climb up the fine hairs of the fur in order to stare right into the magician's eyes.”

— Jostein Gaarder

“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

“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

It is by no means certain that we advance our philosophical quest by reading Plato or Aristotle. It may increase our knowledge…

— Jostein Gaarder

“The philosopher had rescued her. The unknown letter writer had saved her from the triviality of everyday existence.”

— Jostein Gaarder

“But what is a person, George? How much is a person worth? Are we nothing but dust that is whipped up and…

— Jostein Gaarder

“I said his line of thought - referring to the philosopher, because this is also a story of men.”

— Jostein Gaarder

“People are, generally speaking, either dead certain or totally indifferent (Both types are crawling around deep down in the rabbit's fur!)”

— Jostein Gaarder