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Famous Quotes, Philosophers

"Common sense is the most evenly shared thing in the world" (Descartes, 1637), "God is dead" (Nietzsche, 1882), "Hell is other people" (Sartre, 1944). Match 15 quotes to their author.

15

Questions

2

Minutes

Tip: Use keys 1-4 to answer quickly

The 15 quiz questions

Question 1 : « Good sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world. », Who said this?

Possible answers:

  • Spinoza
  • Leibniz
  • Pascal
  • Descartes

Explanation: Opening sentence of René Descartes' Discourse on the Method (1637). Beneath its irony, it posits the fundamental equality of human reason, prelude to the Cartesian method.

Question 2 : "Man is a wolf to man.", Who is the author of this quote?

Possible answers:

  • Locke
  • Hobbes
  • Machiavelli
  • Rousseau

Explanation: Homo homini lupus, taken up by Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan (1651), describes the state of nature as a war of all against all.

Question 3 : "Man is by nature a political animal.", Who is the author of this statement?

Possible answers:

  • Plato
  • Montesquieu
  • Aristotle
  • Machiavelli

Explanation: Aristotle states in his Politics (4th century BC) that man is naturally made to live in society. Anyone who cannot live in society is either a beast or a god.

Question 4 : "God is dead.", Who is the author of this statement?

Possible answers:

  • Nietzsche
  • Sartre
  • Marx
  • Heidegger

Explanation: A phrase from The Gay Science (1882) by Friedrich Nietzsche, announcing the end of traditional metaphysical values.

Question 5 : "Hell is other people.", Who wrote this line?

Possible answers:

  • Camus
  • Beauvoir
  • Sartre
  • Foucault

Explanation: The final line of the play No Exit (1944) by Jean-Paul Sartre, often misinterpreted as misanthropy.

Question 6 : "I know that I know nothing.", To whom is this phrase attributed?

Possible answers:

  • Diogenes
  • Aristotle
  • Socrates
  • Plato

Explanation: A Socratic paradox reported by Plato, foundation of the maieutic method: wisdom begins with recognizing one's own ignorance.

Question 7 : "We must cultivate our garden.", Who wrote this famous conclusion from Candide?

Possible answers:

  • Diderot
  • Voltaire
  • Montesquieu
  • La Fontaine

Explanation: Voltaire ends Candide (1759) with this famous line, which invites us to devote ourselves to concrete and useful tasks rather than speculating about the evil of the world. It is a philosophy of work and action.

Question 8 : "The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.", Who wrote this?

Possible answers:

  • Pascal
  • La Rochefoucauld
  • Montaigne
  • Descartes

Explanation: From the Pensées by Blaise Pascal, this phrase distinguishes the logic of feeling from that of the intellect.

Question 9 : "One must imagine Sisyphus happy.", Who is the author?

Possible answers:

  • Camus
  • Nietzsche
  • Sartre
  • Kierkegaard

Explanation: The final sentence of The Myth of Sisyphus (1942) by Albert Camus: the absurd does not prevent happiness.

Question 10 : "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.", Who wrote this?

Possible answers:

  • Rousseau
  • Montesquieu
  • Diderot
  • Voltaire

Explanation: Central idea from the Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men (1755) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Question 11 : "No man ever steps in the same river twice.", Who is the author?

Possible answers:

  • Parmenides
  • Democritus
  • Thales
  • Heraclitus

Explanation: Heraclitus of Ephesus (6th century BC) illustrates the principle of perpetual change (panta rhei).

Question 12 : "The starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.", Who is the author?

Possible answers:

  • Hegel
  • Schopenhauer
  • Leibniz
  • Kant

Explanation: Immanuel Kant closes his Critique of Practical Reason (1788) with this formula, which expresses his wonder at two mysteries: the cosmic universe and moral conscience.

Question 13 : "Science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.", Who wrote this?

Possible answers:

  • Montaigne
  • Rabelais
  • Pascal
  • Descartes

Explanation: Advice from Gargantua to Pantagruel in the work of François Rabelais (1532), still relevant in the face of technological excesses.

Question 14 : "What do I know?", Which philosopher made this question his motto?

Possible answers:

  • Montaigne
  • Pascal
  • La Rochefoucauld
  • Diderot

Explanation: Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) adopts this motto in his Essays to express scepticism and humility in the face of knowledge. It sums up his philosophy of doubt.

Question 15 : "Death is nothing to us.", Who is the author of this maxim?

Possible answers:

  • Seneca
  • Epicurus
  • Marcus Aurelius
  • Diogenes

Explanation: Epicurus (341-270 BC) teaches in his Letter to Menoeceus that death should not frighten you: when we are, it is not; when it is, we are no more.

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