Philosophy Quote by Timothy Snyder — Inspiring Words on Life, Love & Wisdom

“As observers of totalitarianism such as Victor Klemperer noticed, truth dies in four modes, all of which we have just witnessed.”

“This is pluralism: not a synonym of relativism, but rather an antonym. Pluralism accepts the moral reality of different kinds of truth, but rejects the idea that they can all be placed on a single scale, measured by a single value.”

“Communication among citizens depends upon equality. At the same time, equality cannot be achieved without facts.”

“You submit to tyranny when you renounce the difference between what you want to hear and what is actually the case. This renunciation of reality can feel natural and pleasant, but the result is your demise as an individual—and thus the collapse of any political system that depends upon individualism.”

“the problem with accepting things that are contradictory as possibly right is that you cannot possibly be thinking yourself when you do it.”

“Believe in truth. To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.”

“The discovery of what is true and the practice of that which is good are the two most important aims of philosophy.”

“Flow is the best of what happens when potential is activated by consciousness.”

“You see, the deaf have an intimacy with silence. It’s there in their dreams.”

“Existence is beyond the power of words”

“The greatest revolutions begin in whispers of possibility.”

“Losing a belief in free will has not made me fatalistic—in fact, it has increased my feelings of freedom. My hopes, fears, and neuroses seem less personal and indelible. There is no telling how much I might change in the future. Just as one wouldn’t draw a lasting conclusion about oneself on the basis of a brief experience of indigestion, one needn’t do so on the basis of how one has thought or behaved for vast stretches of time in the past. A creative change of inputs to the system—learning new skills, forming new relationships, adopting new habits of attention—may radically transform one’s life.”