Isaiah Berlin quotes - page 2

Isaiah Berlin was a Russian-British philosopher and historian of ideas, celebrated for his writings on political theory and the history of liberal thought. Famous for distinguishing between "negative" and "positive" liberty, his work profoundly influenced modern political philosophy. He became one of the most significant intellectual figures of the twentieth century. Here are 40 of his quotes:

If, as I believe, the ends of men are many, and not all of them are in principle compatible with each other, then the possibility of conflict - and of tragedy - can never wholly be eliminated from human life, either personal or social. The necessity of choosing between absolute claims is then an inescapable characteristic of the human condition. This gives its value to freedom as Acton conceived of it - as an end in itself, and not as a temporary need, arising out of our confused notions and irrational and disordered lives, a predicament which a panacea could one day put right.

Isaiah Berlin

There is no a prior reason for supposing that the truth, when it is discovered, will necessarily prove interesting.

Isaiah Berlin

Single-minded monists, ruthless fanatics, men possessed by an all-embracing coherent vision do not know the doubts and agonies of those who cannot wholly blind themselves to reality.

Isaiah Berlin

This gives its value to freedom as Acton conceived of it - as an end in itself, and not as a temporary need, arising out of our confused notions and irrational and disordered lives, a predicament which a panacea could one day put right.

Isaiah Berlin

Everyone knows what made Berkeley notorious. He said that there were no material objects.

Isaiah Berlin

If our powers of prediction, and so our knowledge of the future, become much greater, then, even if they are never complete, this may radically alter our view of what constitutes a person, an act, a choice; and eo ipso our language and our picture of the world.

Isaiah Berlin

If I am prevented by others from doing what I could otherwise do, I am to that degree unfree; and if this area is contracted by other men beyond a certain minimum, I can be described as being coerced, or, it may be, enslaved.

Isaiah Berlin

Knowledge increases autonomy both in the sense of Kant, and in that of Spinoza and his followers.

Isaiah Berlin

If, as I believe, the ends of men are many, and not all of them are in principle compatible with each other, then the possibility of conflict - and of tragedy - can never wholly be eliminated from human life, either personal or social.

Isaiah Berlin

All central beliefs on human matters spring from a personal predicament.

Isaiah Berlin

Science cannot destroy the consciousness of freedom, without which there is no morality and no art, but it can refute it.

Isaiah Berlin

The underlying assumption that human nature is basically the same at all times, everywhere, and obeys eternal laws beyond human control, is a conception that only a handful of bold thinkers have dared to question.

Isaiah Berlin

Those, no doubt, are in some way fortunate who have brought themselves, or have been brought by others, to obey some ultimate principle before the bar of which all problems can be brought. Single-minded monists, ruthless fanatics, men possessed by an all-embracing coherent vision do not know the doubts and agonies of those who cannot wholly blind themselves to reality.

Isaiah Berlin