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Jostein Gaarder

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A philosopher knows that in reality he knows very little. That is why he constantly strives to achieve true insight. Socrates was one of these rare people. He knew that he knew nothing about life and about the world. And now comes the important part: it troubled him that he knew so little.
From Sophie’s World
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Socrates himself said, 'One thing only I know, and this is that I know nothing.'
Remember this statement, because it is an admission that is rare, even among philosophers. Moreover, it can be so dangerous to say in public that it can cost you your life. The most subversive people are those who ask questions. Giving answers is not nearly as threatening. Any one question can be more explosive than a thousand answers.
From Sophie’s World
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Life is both sad and solemn. We are led into a wonderful world, we meet one another here, greet each other - and wander together for a brief moment. Then we lose each other and disappear as suddenly and unreasonably as we arrived.
From Sophie’s World
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The truth is that I feel totally helpless, or totally inconsolable, to be more honest. I’m not trying to hide it, but it’s something you’re not to worry about.
From The Orange Girl
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Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fall off, but others cling on desperately and yell at the people nestling deep in the snug softness, stuffing themselves with delicious food and drink. 'Ladies and Gentlemen,' they yell, 'we are floating in space!' But none of the people down there care
From Sophie’s World
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But understanding will always require some effort. You probably wouldn't admire a friend who was good at everything if it cost her no effort.
From Sophie’s World
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Wisest is she who knows she does not know.
From Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy
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And although I have seen nothing but black crows in my life, it doesn't mean that there's no such thing as a white crow. Both for a philosopher and for a scientist it can be important not to reject the possibility of finding a white crow. You might almost say that hunting for 'the white crow' is science's principal task.
From Sophie’s World
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Health is the natural condition. When sickness occurs, it is a sign that Nature has gone off course because of a physical or mental imbalance. The road to health for everyone is through moderation, harmony, and a 'sound mind in a sound body'.
From Sophie’s World
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If you believed in Christianity or Islam it was called 'faith', but if you believed in astrology or friday the thirteenth it was Superstition!
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Kita melahirkan dan dilahirkan oleh sebuah jiwa yang tidak kita kenal
Kita adalah teka-teki yang tak teterka oleh siapa pun.
Kita adalah dongeng yang terperangkap dalam khayalannya sendiri.
Kita adalah apa yang terus berjalan tanpa pernah tiba pada pengertian
From Maya
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It's not him who's disturbed. But he likes to disturb others--to shake them out of their rut.
From Sophie’s World
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Our lives are part of a unique adventure... Nevertheless, most of us think the world is 'normal' and are constantly hunting for something abnormal--like angels or Martians. But that is just because we don't realize the world is a mystery. As for myself, I felt completely different. I saw the world as an amazing dream. I was hunting for some kind of explanation of how everything fit together.
From The Solitaire Mystery
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When we sense something, it is due to the movement of atoms in space. When I see the moon it is because "moon atoms" penetrate my eye.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
When you realize there is something you don't understand, then you're generally on the right path to understanding all kinds of things.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
As long as we are children, we have the ability to experience things around us--but then we grow used to the world. To grow up is to get drunk on sensory experience.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Man is the measure of all things', said the Sophist Protagora (c. 485-410 B.C.). By that he meant that the question of whether a thing is right or wrong, good or bad, must always be considered in relation to a person's needs.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
So now you must choose... Are you a child who has not yet become world-weary? Or are you a philosopher who will vow never to become so? To children, the world and everything in it is new, something that gives rise to astonishment. It is not like that for adults. Most adults accept the world as a matter of course. This is precisely where philosophers are a notable exception. A philosopher never gets quite used to the world. To him or her, the world continues to seem a bit unreasonable - bewildering, even enigmatic. Philosophers and small children thus have an important faculty in common. The only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder…
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A lot of people experience the world with the same incredulity as when a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat.…We know that the world is not all sleight of hand and deception because we are in it, we are part of it. Actually we are the white rabbit being pulled out of the hat. The only difference beween us and the white rabbit is that the rabbit does not realize it is taking part in a magic trick.
From Sophie’s World
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She sent me a sunny smile, and what a smile, George; it was a smile that could have melted the whole world, because if the whole world had seen it, it would have had the power to stop all wars and hatred on the face of the planet, or at lease there would have been some long ceasefires.
From The Orange Girl
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A hydrogen atom in a cell at the end of my nose was once part of an elephant's trunk. A carbon atom in my cardiac muscle was once in the tail of a dinosaur.
From Sophie’s World
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When we die, as when the scenes have been fixed on to celluloid and the scenery is pulled down and burnt — we are phantoms in the memories of our descendants. Then we are ghosts, my dear, then we are myths. But still we are together. We are the past together, we are a distant past. Beneath the dome of the mysterious stars, I still hear your voice.
From Maya
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Although you may not stumble across a Martian in the garden, you might stumble across yourself. The day that happens, you'll probably also scream a little. And that'll be perfectly all right, because it's not every day you realize you're a living planet dweller on a little island in the universe.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I have gone around observing your activities from the outside. Because of this I have also been able to see things to which you have been blind... Every morning you have gone to work, but you have never been fully awake. Of course, you have seen the sun and the moon, the stars in the sky, and everything that moves, but you haven't really seen it at all. It is different for the Joker, because he was put into this world with a flaw: He sees too clearly and too much.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A philosopher knows that in reality he knows very little. That is why he constantly strives to achieve true insight. Socrates was one of these rare people. He knew that he knew nothing about life and about the world. And now comes the important part: it troubled him that he knew so little.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Socrates himself said, 'One thing only I know, and this is that I know nothing.'
Remember this statement, because it is an admission that is rare, even among philosophers. Moreover, it can be so dangerous to say in public that it can cost you your life. The most subversive people are those who ask questions. Giving answers is not nearly as threatening. Any one question can be more explosive than a thousand answers.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Life is both sad and solemn. We are led into a wonderful world, we meet one another here, greet each other - and wander together for a brief moment. Then we lose each other and disappear as suddenly and unreasonably as we arrived.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
The truth is that I feel totally helpless, or totally inconsolable, to be more honest. I’m not trying to hide it, but it’s something you’re not to worry about.
From The Orange Girl
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fall off, but others cling on desperately and yell at the people nestling deep in the snug softness, stuffing themselves with delicious food and drink. 'Ladies and Gentlemen,' they yell, 'we are floating in space!' But none of the people down there care
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
But understanding will always require some effort. You probably wouldn't admire a friend who was good at everything if it cost her no effort.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Wisest is she who knows she does not know.
From Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
And although I have seen nothing but black crows in my life, it doesn't mean that there's no such thing as a white crow. Both for a philosopher and for a scientist it can be important not to reject the possibility of finding a white crow. You might almost say that hunting for 'the white crow' is science's principal task.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Health is the natural condition. When sickness occurs, it is a sign that Nature has gone off course because of a physical or mental imbalance. The road to health for everyone is through moderation, harmony, and a 'sound mind in a sound body'.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
If you believed in Christianity or Islam it was called 'faith', but if you believed in astrology or friday the thirteenth it was Superstition!
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Kita melahirkan dan dilahirkan oleh sebuah jiwa yang tidak kita kenal
Kita adalah teka-teki yang tak teterka oleh siapa pun.
Kita adalah dongeng yang terperangkap dalam khayalannya sendiri.
Kita adalah apa yang terus berjalan tanpa pernah tiba pada pengertian
From Maya
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
It's not him who's disturbed. But he likes to disturb others--to shake them out of their rut.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Our lives are part of a unique adventure... Nevertheless, most of us think the world is 'normal' and are constantly hunting for something abnormal--like angels or Martians. But that is just because we don't realize the world is a mystery. As for myself, I felt completely different. I saw the world as an amazing dream. I was hunting for some kind of explanation of how everything fit together.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
When we sense something, it is due to the movement of atoms in space. When I see the moon it is because "moon atoms" penetrate my eye.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
When you realize there is something you don't understand, then you're generally on the right path to understanding all kinds of things.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
As long as we are children, we have the ability to experience things around us--but then we grow used to the world. To grow up is to get drunk on sensory experience.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Man is the measure of all things', said the Sophist Protagora (c. 485-410 B.C.). By that he meant that the question of whether a thing is right or wrong, good or bad, must always be considered in relation to a person's needs.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
So now you must choose... Are you a child who has not yet become world-weary? Or are you a philosopher who will vow never to become so? To children, the world and everything in it is new, something that gives rise to astonishment. It is not like that for adults. Most adults accept the world as a matter of course. This is precisely where philosophers are a notable exception. A philosopher never gets quite used to the world. To him or her, the world continues to seem a bit unreasonable - bewildering, even enigmatic. Philosophers and small children thus have an important faculty in common. The only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder…
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A lot of people experience the world with the same incredulity as when a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat.…We know that the world is not all sleight of hand and deception because we are in it, we are part of it. Actually we are the white rabbit being pulled out of the hat. The only difference beween us and the white rabbit is that the rabbit does not realize it is taking part in a magic trick.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
She sent me a sunny smile, and what a smile, George; it was a smile that could have melted the whole world, because if the whole world had seen it, it would have had the power to stop all wars and hatred on the face of the planet, or at lease there would have been some long ceasefires.
From The Orange Girl
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A hydrogen atom in a cell at the end of my nose was once part of an elephant's trunk. A carbon atom in my cardiac muscle was once in the tail of a dinosaur.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
When we die, as when the scenes have been fixed on to celluloid and the scenery is pulled down and burnt — we are phantoms in the memories of our descendants. Then we are ghosts, my dear, then we are myths. But still we are together. We are the past together, we are a distant past. Beneath the dome of the mysterious stars, I still hear your voice.
From Maya
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Although you may not stumble across a Martian in the garden, you might stumble across yourself. The day that happens, you'll probably also scream a little. And that'll be perfectly all right, because it's not every day you realize you're a living planet dweller on a little island in the universe.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I have gone around observing your activities from the outside. Because of this I have also been able to see things to which you have been blind... Every morning you have gone to work, but you have never been fully awake. Of course, you have seen the sun and the moon, the stars in the sky, and everything that moves, but you haven't really seen it at all. It is different for the Joker, because he was put into this world with a flaw: He sees too clearly and too much.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A philosopher knows that in reality he knows very little. That is why he constantly strives to achieve true insight. Socrates was one of these rare people. He knew that he knew nothing about life and about the world. And now comes the important part: it troubled him that he knew so little.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Socrates himself said, 'One thing only I know, and this is that I know nothing.'
Remember this statement, because it is an admission that is rare, even among philosophers. Moreover, it can be so dangerous to say in public that it can cost you your life. The most subversive people are those who ask questions. Giving answers is not nearly as threatening. Any one question can be more explosive than a thousand answers.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Life is both sad and solemn. We are led into a wonderful world, we meet one another here, greet each other - and wander together for a brief moment. Then we lose each other and disappear as suddenly and unreasonably as we arrived.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
The truth is that I feel totally helpless, or totally inconsolable, to be more honest. I’m not trying to hide it, but it’s something you’re not to worry about.
From The Orange Girl
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fall off, but others cling on desperately and yell at the people nestling deep in the snug softness, stuffing themselves with delicious food and drink. 'Ladies and Gentlemen,' they yell, 'we are floating in space!' But none of the people down there care
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
But understanding will always require some effort. You probably wouldn't admire a friend who was good at everything if it cost her no effort.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Wisest is she who knows she does not know.
From Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
And although I have seen nothing but black crows in my life, it doesn't mean that there's no such thing as a white crow. Both for a philosopher and for a scientist it can be important not to reject the possibility of finding a white crow. You might almost say that hunting for 'the white crow' is science's principal task.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Health is the natural condition. When sickness occurs, it is a sign that Nature has gone off course because of a physical or mental imbalance. The road to health for everyone is through moderation, harmony, and a 'sound mind in a sound body'.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
If you believed in Christianity or Islam it was called 'faith', but if you believed in astrology or friday the thirteenth it was Superstition!
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Kita melahirkan dan dilahirkan oleh sebuah jiwa yang tidak kita kenal
Kita adalah teka-teki yang tak teterka oleh siapa pun.
Kita adalah dongeng yang terperangkap dalam khayalannya sendiri.
Kita adalah apa yang terus berjalan tanpa pernah tiba pada pengertian
From Maya
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
It's not him who's disturbed. But he likes to disturb others--to shake them out of their rut.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Our lives are part of a unique adventure... Nevertheless, most of us think the world is 'normal' and are constantly hunting for something abnormal--like angels or Martians. But that is just because we don't realize the world is a mystery. As for myself, I felt completely different. I saw the world as an amazing dream. I was hunting for some kind of explanation of how everything fit together.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
When we sense something, it is due to the movement of atoms in space. When I see the moon it is because "moon atoms" penetrate my eye.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
When you realize there is something you don't understand, then you're generally on the right path to understanding all kinds of things.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
As long as we are children, we have the ability to experience things around us--but then we grow used to the world. To grow up is to get drunk on sensory experience.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Man is the measure of all things', said the Sophist Protagora (c. 485-410 B.C.). By that he meant that the question of whether a thing is right or wrong, good or bad, must always be considered in relation to a person's needs.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
So now you must choose... Are you a child who has not yet become world-weary? Or are you a philosopher who will vow never to become so? To children, the world and everything in it is new, something that gives rise to astonishment. It is not like that for adults. Most adults accept the world as a matter of course. This is precisely where philosophers are a notable exception. A philosopher never gets quite used to the world. To him or her, the world continues to seem a bit unreasonable - bewildering, even enigmatic. Philosophers and small children thus have an important faculty in common. The only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder…
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A lot of people experience the world with the same incredulity as when a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat.…We know that the world is not all sleight of hand and deception because we are in it, we are part of it. Actually we are the white rabbit being pulled out of the hat. The only difference beween us and the white rabbit is that the rabbit does not realize it is taking part in a magic trick.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
She sent me a sunny smile, and what a smile, George; it was a smile that could have melted the whole world, because if the whole world had seen it, it would have had the power to stop all wars and hatred on the face of the planet, or at lease there would have been some long ceasefires.
From The Orange Girl
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A hydrogen atom in a cell at the end of my nose was once part of an elephant's trunk. A carbon atom in my cardiac muscle was once in the tail of a dinosaur.
From Sophie’s World
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
When we die, as when the scenes have been fixed on to celluloid and the scenery is pulled down and burnt — we are phantoms in the memories of our descendants. Then we are ghosts, my dear, then we are myths. But still we are together. We are the past together, we are a distant past. Beneath the dome of the mysterious stars, I still hear your voice.
From Maya
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Although you may not stumble across a Martian in the garden, you might stumble across yourself. The day that happens, you'll probably also scream a little. And that'll be perfectly all right, because it's not every day you realize you're a living planet dweller on a little island in the universe.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I have gone around observing your activities from the outside. Because of this I have also been able to see things to which you have been blind... Every morning you have gone to work, but you have never been fully awake. Of course, you have seen the sun and the moon, the stars in the sky, and everything that moves, but you haven't really seen it at all. It is different for the Joker, because he was put into this world with a flaw: He sees too clearly and too much.
From The Solitaire Mystery
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
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