Skip to content

Theology recognizes the contingency of human existence only to derive it from a necessary being, that is, to remove it. Theology makes use of philosophical wonder only for the purpose of motivating an affirmation which ends it. Philosophy, on the other hand, arouses us to what is problematic in our own existence and in that of the world, to such a point that we shall never be cured of searching for a solution.

— Maurice Merleau-Ponty In Praise of Philosophy (1963)

Another quote →

Topics

More quotes by Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Socrates reminds us that it is not the same thing, but almost the opposite, to understand religion and to accept it.

In Praise of Philosophy (1963)

Montaigne [puts] not self-satisfied understanding but a consciousness astonished at itself at the core of human existence.

It is a great good fortune, as Stendhal said, for one “to have his passion as a profession.”

In Praise of Philosophy (1963)

What makes a philosopher is the movement which leads back without ceasing from knowledge to ignorance, from ignorance to knowledge, and a kind of rest in this movement.

In Praise of Philosophy (1963)

The world is nothing but 'world-as-meaning.'

Phenomenology of Perception (1945)

All Maurice Merleau-Ponty quotes →

You may also like

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.

H. P. Lovecraft The Call of Cthulhu (1926)

There is no governor anywhere; you are all absolutely free. There is no restraint that cannot be escaped.

Robert Anton Wilson

Every morning
I shall concern myself anew about the boundary
Between the love-deed-Yes and the power-deed-No
And pressing forward honor reality.

Martin Buber Power and Love (1926)

In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended.

John C. Lilly The Human Biocomputer (1974)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Maurice Merleau-Ponty (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.