Claude Adrien Helvétius citáty

„Aby sme milovali ľudí, musíme od nich málo očakávať.“

„Okrem odvahy niet nič krajšieho, ako priznanie zbabelosti.“

„Žijeme len ten čas, v ktorom milujeme.“

„Rozum je vždy až posledným prameňom lásky.“

„Sloboda myslenia prináša plody pravdy.“

„Človek zhlúpne, len čo prestane byť vášnivý.“

„Ľudia sa nerodia takí, akí sú, ale stávajú sa nimi.“

„Strach pred možnosťou omylu nám nesmie zabrániť v hľadaní pravdy.“

„Sú ľudia, ktorých treba ohromiť na to, aby sme ich presvedčili.“

„Zamestnaný človek je šťastný človek.“

„Žijeme len tú dobu, počas ktorej milujeme.“

“Discipline is, in a manner, nothing else but the art of inspiring the soldiers with greater fear of their officers than of the enemy.”

“The degree of genius necessary to please us is pretty nearly the same proportion that we ourselves have.”

“No nation has reason to regard itself superior to others by virtue of its innate endowment.”

“By annihilating the desires, you annihilate the mind. Every man without passions has within him no principle of action, nor motive to act.”

“Most events spring from causes equally small: we are unacquainted with them because most historians have been themselves ignorant of them, or have not had eyes capable of perceiving them. It is true, that, in this respect, the mind may repair their omissions; for the knowledge of certain principles easily compensates the lack of knowledge of certain facts.”

“To limit the press is to insult a nation; to prohibit reading of certain books is to declare the inhabitants to be either fools or slaves: such a prohibition ought to fill them with disdain.”

“…there are men whom a happy disposition, a strong desire of glory and esteem, inspire with the same love for justice and virtue, which men in general have for riches and honours.
The actions personally advantageous for these virtuous men are so truly just, that they tend to promote the general welfare, or, at least, not to lessen it.
But the number of these men is so small, that I only mention them in honour of humanity.”