The Enlightenment, Volume 1 Quotes

“While the Enlightenment was a family of philosophers, it was something more as well: it was a cultural climate, a world in which the philosophers acted, from which they noisily rebelled and quietly drew many of their ideas, and on which they attempted to impose their program.”
― Peter Gay, The Enlightenment, Volume 1: The Rise of Modern Paganism

“But while the philosophes were a family, they were a stormy one. They were allies and often friends, but second only to their pleasure in promoting the common cause was the pleasure in criticizing a comrade-in-arms. They carried on an unending debate with one another, and some of their exchanges were anything but polite. Many of the charges later levelled against the Enlightenment – naïve optimism, pretentious rationalism, unphilosophical philosophizing – were first made by one philosophe against another.”
― Peter Gay, The Enlightenment, Volume 1: The Rise of Modern Paganism

“The Enlightenment may be summoned up in two words: criticism and power.”
― Peter Gay, The Enlightenment, Volume 1: The Rise of Modern Paganism

“(...) the Enlightenment has been held responsible for the evils of the modern age, and much scorn has been directed at its supposed superficial rationalism, foolish optimism, and irresponsible Utopianism.”
― Peter Gay, The Enlightenment, Volume 1: The Rise of Modern Paganism