Isaiah Berlin Quotes

A collection of quotes by Isaiah Berlin.

Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) was a renowned British philosopher and historian of ideas. He was born in Riga, Latvia, and later moved to England at a young age. Berlin's influential work explored various topics such as political philosophy, liberalism, and the history of thought. He is particularly known for his ideas on pluralism and the distinction between negative and positive liberty. Berlin's extensive writings and lectures significantly contributed to the fields of political theory and intellectual history. His notable works include "Two Concepts of Liberty" and "The Hedgehog and the Fox."

The view that the truth is one and undivided, and the same f

The view that the truth is one and undivided, and the same for all men everywhere at all times, whether one finds it in the pronouncements of sacred books, traditional wisdom, the authority of churches, democratic majorities, observation and experiment conducted by qualified experts, or the convictions of simple folks uncorrupted by civilisation---this view, in one form or another, is central to western thought, which stems from Plato and his disciples.

Truth Philosophy

Few new truths have ever won their way against the resistanc

Few new truths have ever won their way against the resistance of established ideas save by being overstated.

Truth

Liberty for wolves is death to the lambs.

Liberty for wolves is death to the lambs.

Death

Injustice, poverty, slavery, ignorance - these may be cured

Injustice, poverty, slavery, ignorance - these may be cured by reform or revolution. But men do not live only by fighting evils. They live by positive goals, individual and collective, a vast variety of them, seldom predictable, at times incompatible.

Men