Quotes from Immanuel Kant

A good will is good not because of what it performs or effects, not by its aptness for the attainment of some proposed end, but simply by virtue of the volition - that is, it is good in itself, and considered by itself is to be esteemed much higher than all that can be brought about by it in favor of any inclination, nay, even of the sum-total of all inclinations... like a jewel, it would still shine by its own light, as a thing which has its whole value in itself.

What things may be in themselves we do not know, nor need we care to know, because, after all, a thing can never come before me otherwise than as an appearance.

many things must remain uncertain, and many a question insoluble, because what we know of nature is by no means sufficient, in all cases, to explain what has to be explained.

The rights of men must be held sacred, however great the cost of sacrifice may be to those in power. Here one cannot go halfway, cooking up hybrid, pragmatically-conditioned rights (which are somewhere between the right and the expedient); instead, all politics must bend its knee before morality...

For when we allow the arguments of reason to oppose one another with perfect freedom, something useful and serviceable for the correction of our judgements will always result, though it may not always be what we were looking for.

No nation shall forcibly interfere with the constitution and government of another.

If man makes himself a worm he must not complain when he is trodden on.

The understanding cannot intuit anything, the senses cannot think anything. Only from their union can knowledge arise.

Gustavo Solivellas dice: La felicidad no es un ideal de la razón, sino de la imaginación (Immanuel Kant)

To appeal to common sense when insight and science fail, and no sooner—this is one of the subtle discoveries of modern times, by means of which the most superficial ranter can safely enter the lists with the most thorough thinker and hold his own.

purposes are imposed on nature violently and dictatorially, instead of being sought by means of physical investigation.

In other words, it must be the same to you, when you do perceive this unity, whether we say, God has wisely willed it so, or nature has wisely arranged it so.

In the universal stillness of nature and the calmness of the senses the immortal spirit's hidden faculty of cognition speaks an ineffable language and provides undeveloped concepts that can certainly be felt but not described.

Conscience is an instinct to pass judgment upon ourselves in accordance with moral laws.

Would it not therefore be wiser in moral concerns to acquiesce in the judgement of common reason, or at most only to call in philosophy for the purpose of rendering the system of morals more complete and intelligible, and its rules more convenient for use (especially for disputation), but not so as to draw off the common understanding from its happy simplicity, or to bring it by means of philosophy into a new path of inquiry and instruction?

To coin new words is to arrogate to oneself legislative power in matters of language, which is rarely successful [...]

Um fremden Wert willig und frei anzuerkennen, muß man eigenen haben.

Individual men and even entire peoples give little thought to the fact that while each according to this own ways pursues his own ends—often at cross purposes with each other—they unconsciously proceed toward an unknown natural end, as if following a guiding thread; and they work to promote an end they would set little store by, even if they were aware of it.

Jeg skal alltid handle slik at den regelen jeg handler etter kunne gjelde som allmenn lov.

if the unfortunate man, strong of soul, more indignant about his fate than despondent or dejected, wishes for death, and yet preserves his life, without loving it, not from inclination, or fear, but from duty; then his maxim has a moral content.

The world of sense, if it is limited, lies necessarily within the infinite void. If we ignore this, and with it, space in general, as an a priori condition of the possibility of phenomena, the whole world of sense vanishes, which alone forms the object of our enquiry.

Without sensibility no object would be given to us, without understanding no object would be thought. Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind...These two powers or capacities cannot exchange their functions. The understanding can intuit nothing, the senses can think nothing. Only through their union can knowledge arise.

Freedom of the will is of a wholly unique nature in that an incentive can determine the will to an action only so far as the individual has incorporated it into his maxim (has made it the general rule in accordance with which he will conduct himself); only thus can an incentive, whatever it may be, co-exist with the absolute spontaneity of the will (i.e., freedom).

Gustavo Solivellas dice: Incluso los filósofos elogiarán la guerra como ennobleciendo a la humanidad, olvidando al griego que dijo: La guerra es mala porque engendra más mal que el que mata (Immanuel Kant)