"Those who say and preach that the perfection of man consists in the knowledge of truth and that all his ills come from false opinions and from ignorance are quite wrong. And so are those who say that the human race will finally be happy when all or the great majority of men know the truth and organize and govern their lives according to its norms. These are things said by almost all philosophers, ancient and modern. . . . I'm not unaware of the fact that the ultimate conclusion we draw from perfect and true philosophy is that we must not philosophize. From which we infer, in the first place, that philosophy is useless, for to achieve the effect of non-philosophizing, we don't need to be philosophers; in the second place, that it is extremely harmful, for that ultimate conclusion can be learned only at one's own expense, and once it has been learned, it can't be put in operation because it is not in the power of men to forget the truths they know and because one can more easily lay aside any other habit than that of philosophizing. In short, philosophy starts out by hoping and promising to cure our ills and ends up by desiring in vain to find a remedy for itself."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Giacomo Leopardi, trans. Giovanni Cecchetti, "Dialogue between Timander and Eleander", Operette Morali: Essays and Dialogues (1983),
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philosophical_pessimism
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Philosophical pessimism
352 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Philosophical pessimism →
Related Quotes
"One can regret not having done something and one can also regret having done something. Doubt, dread, and fear of dec…"
"If one finds it. If the meaning of life is to seek meaning in life, then to find meaning in life is to remain without…"
"Better to be an animal than a man, an insect than an animal, a plant than an insect, and so on. Salvation? Whatever d…"
"Everything that is engenders, sooner or later, nightmares. Let us try, therefore, to invent something better than being."
"If everyone had seen through everything, if everyone had "understood," history would have ceased long since. But we a…"
"Above all, we cannot expect the state to make people happy. Even if it effectively protects the rights of everyone, i…"
"We laugh, but inept is our laughter, We should weep, and weep sore, Who are shattered like glass and thereafter Remol…"
"Consider the capacity of the human body for pleasure. Sometimes, it is pleasant to eat, to drink, to see, to touch, t…"
"Sadness, more than an emotion, is a discovery. It is the discovery that we have no power over the world, that we are …"
"The only thing the young should be taught is that there is virtually nothing to be hoped for from life. One dreams of…"