Quotes by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

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Language is the best mirror of the human spirit, and with the help of a careful analysis of the meanings of words we can best understand the activity of the intellect.

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People despise not vices so much as weakness and unhappiness.

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Moral necessity does not hinder freedom, because whoever chooses the better does not thereby become less free; on the contrary, the fullest freedom rather consists precisely in the fact that nothing prevents things from unfolding in an optimal manner.

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It is not proper for the wise man to expend his strength more than is necessary.

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To the question of why there are currently an infinite number of monads, I answer: to be able to discover the full richness of the divine creation.

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The present is great together with the future.

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Our happiness should by no means lie in an absolute satisfaction that leaves nothing to be desired, a situation that would only encourage the dulling of the mind. The constant tendency towards new satisfactions and new fulfillments is happiness itself.

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The truth is more widespread than it is assumed, but it is very often beautified, camouflaged, even minimized and distorted by various depositions that distort it and make it less useful.

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The rays of light emanating from the infinite multitude of objects and passing through a small slit without mixing with each other, as can be observed in a dark room, serve as a paradigm of the refined spiritual world.

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Modest people who happen to witness an inappropriate gesture experience a feeling similar to shame.

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The reason for all harmony lies in the fact that every simple substance is of such a nature that its later state is the result of its former state.

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I do not despise mystics: their thoughts are often clouded, but as they usually make use of wonderful allegories and moving images, this fact may facilitate access to the truth.

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I despise almost nothing... No one is gifted with a less critical spirit than I am. This sounds weird, but I agree with almost everything I read. I know very well how varied things are, and that's why when I read, I immediately come across something that explains or justifies the author.

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I would travel twenty miles to listen to my bitterest enemy, if I could learn anything from him.

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I perfectly agree with Malebranche and Cicero when they say that man is not born for himself, but for others.

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I am confident that a bad head, but provided with aids and training, can surpass the best, just as a child can draw a straighter line with a ruler than a master can with his free hand.

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He who is not equal to himself is not free.

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Ideas are a kind of matter of thoughts.

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Envy is an agitation (lack of satisfaction) of the soul born from the fact that the goods we desire are owned by someone else whom we do not consider more entitled to own them than we are ourselves.

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Demonstration by examples should never be considered a full demonstration.

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When is a free being? When it is in harmony with its own being.

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Is there satisfaction without a little suffering? He who has not tasted the bitter, does not deserve the sweet, indeed he is not able to appreciate it. No truth should be disregarded.

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The Absolute is nothing but the sum of God's attributes.

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The world may be a phantasmagoria and existence may be only a dream, but this dream or phantasmagoria is real enough for me, if we are never deceived by the right use of reason.

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Order, symmetry, harmony fascinate us... God himself is pure order. He is the creator of universal harmony.

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As the goodness of God, which manifests itself universally in creatures, is directed by wisdom, consequently the divine providence is manifested in the whole series of events in the universe, and we must say that God has chosen the best out of an infinite number of possible series of things, which in this way is exactly the same as that which actually exists. Everything in the universe is in harmony with each other, and the wisest being only decides on the whole after reviewing all the possibilities.

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The infinite wisdom of the Almighty, combined with his immeasurable goodness, has resulted in the fact that, all things considered, nothing better than what God has created is possible. So much so that everything is in perfect harmony and the most beautiful harmony with each other... For this reason, whenever something seems objectionable in the works of God, we must judge that we do not have enough knowledge about the matter, but a wise man who would understand would judge that it is not even to wish can be better.

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Music is the joy of the human mind: counting without the consciousness of counting.

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Anyone who crows his own name too loudly and too often gives the impression that he is standing on a rubbish heap.

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Our body is in perpetual flux, like a river, and parts are constantly entering and leaving it.

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General principles penetrate our thinking and form its soul and connection.

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All spirits, all souls, all created simple substances are always connected with bodies.

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There is never a jump in nature. I called this the law of continuity (continuitas)... Thanks to this, we always go from the small to the medium to the large and vice versa.

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Every time an hour of time is lost, a piece of life is destroyed.

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People are different, but the truth is one, and all those who search for it in any field help each other.

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The imaginary number is a pleasant and witty help of the divine soul, almost a transition between the existent and the non-existent.