Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's World

Quotes

• “A lot of people experience the world with the same incredulity as when a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat.…We know t...”
• “Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fa...”
• “And although I have seen nothing but black crows in my life, it doesn't mean that there's no such thing as a white crow....”
• “A philosopher knows that in reality he knows very little. That is why he constantly strives to achieve true insight. Soc...”
• “Health is the natural condition. When sickness occurs, it is a sign that Nature has gone off course because of a physica...”
• “Life is both sad and solemn. We are led into a wonderful world, we meet one another here, greet each other - and wander ...”
• “He could very likely have appealed for leniency. At least he could have saved his life by agreeing to leave Athens. But ...”
• “Man is the measure of all things', said the Sophist Protagora (c. 485-410 B.C.). By that he meant that the question of w...”
• “A composition—and every work of art is one—is created in a wondrous interplay between imagination and reason, or between...”
• “ويبدوا أنه مع العمر لا يطل هناك ما يدهشان . لكننا بذلك نفقد شيئا أساسيا هو ما يحاول الفلاسفة إيقاظه فيه داخلنا. ذاك ‘ن ص...”
• “A hydrogen atom in a cell at the end of my nose was once part of an elephant's trunk. A carbon atom in my cardiac muscle...”
• “If you believed in Christianity or Islam it was called 'faith', but if you believed in astrology or friday the thirteent...”
• “But understanding will always require some effort. You probably wouldn't admire a friend who was good at everything if i...”
• “People are, generally speaking, either dead certain or totally indifferent (Both types are crawling around deep down in ...”
• “When we sense something, it is due to the movement of atoms in space. When I see the moon it is because "moon atoms"pene...”
• “The rearing of children is considered too important to be left to the individual and should be the responsibility of the...”
• “It's not him who's disturbed. But he likes to disturb others--to shake them out of their rut.”
• “A state that does not educate and train women is like a man who only trains his right arm.”
• “Wisest is she who knows she does not know.”
• “A true philosopher must never give up.”