Morals are in all countries the result of legislation and government they are not African or Asian or European: they are good or bad. – Denis Diderot
Power acquired by violence is only a usurpation, and lasts only as long as the force of him who commands prevails over that of those who obey. – Denis Diderot
Only passions, great passions can elevate the soul to great things. – Denis Diderot
Doctors are always working to preserve our health and cooks to destroy it, but the latter are the more often successful. – Denis Diderot
The nature of catastrophe is, after all, reasonably unvarying in the way it ruins, destroys, wounds and devastates. But if something can be learned from the event – not least something as profound as the theory of plate tectonics – then it somehow puts the ruination into a much more positive light. – Simon Winchester