The Philosophy Book for Beginners Quotes

“Hildegard saw music as divine and she saw the divine in everything. “So sing!” she wrote. “Be not lax in celebrating. Be not lazy in the festive service of God. Be ablaze with enthusiasm. Let us live as a burning offering before the altar of God.” Wow—how many of us have ever been so excited to face the day? Hildegard was neither the first nor the last philosopher to argue that music has a very central role to play in the good life. (Examples within this book include Confucius, Aristotle, and Nietzsche.) Even if it turns out that music and God aren’t for everyone, Hildegard seems to be making a deeper point about the crucial importance of enthusiasm. Perhaps there is something ecstatically inspiring out there for each of us, something that can turn a dreary or painful life into something truly good.”
― Sharon Kaye, The Philosophy Book for Beginners: A Brief Introduction to Great Thinkers and Big Ideas

“As Murdoch put it in one of her philosophical novels, “Man is a suffering animal, subject to ceaseless anxiety and pain and fear.” So, it is fortunate for us that every so often, just when we begin to pant with the effort of loving humanity, beauty comes along to take our breath away.”
― Sharon Kaye, The Philosophy Book for Beginners: A Brief Introduction to Great Thinkers and Big Ideas

“Sapere aude!”
― Sharon Kaye, The Philosophy Book for Beginners: A Brief Introduction to Great Thinkers and Big Ideas

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
― Sharon Kaye, The Philosophy Book for Beginners: A Brief Introduction to Great Thinkers and Big Ideas

“Just as our bodily eye recognizes an old friend, our mind’s eye recognizes the truth. This ability suggests that our minds are nonphysical entities, or souls, that have access to a reality beyond the physical world.”
― Sharon Kaye, The Philosophy Book for Beginners: A Brief Introduction to Great Thinkers and Big Ideas