Quote by Denis Diderot

If there is one realm in which it is essential to be sublime, it is in wickedness. You spit on a petty thief, but you can't deny a kind of respect for the great criminal.

If there is one realm in which it is essential to be sublime

Summary

This quote suggests that when it comes to being wicked, it is important to strive for greatness and exemplify sheer brilliance, rather than settling for mediocrity. While society may exhibit disdain for small-time criminals, it acknowledges a certain admiration or respect for those who commit grandiose and audacious acts of wrongdoing. The quote invites reflection on the paradoxical nature of human sentiments - condemning lesser wrongdoers while grudgingly acknowledging the artistry or audacity displayed by the more significant and infamous criminals.

Topics

By Denis Diderot

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only

Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward.

Hatred paralyses life; love releases it. Hatred confuses lif

Hatred paralyses life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Your body must become familiar with its death - in all its p

Your body must become familiar with its death - in all its possible forms and degrees - as a self-evident, imminent, and emotionally neutral step on the way towards the goal you have found worthy of your life.

Dag Hammarskjold

Follow your passion. Nothing - not wealth, success, accolade

Follow your passion. Nothing - not wealth, success, accolades or fame - is worth spending a lifetime doing things you don't enjoy.

If you want to look at the state of humans, you should look

If you want to look at the state of humans, you should look at the state of animals first. People are choosing whether or not they can feed an animal and their family. And every shelter coast-to-coast is stuffed.

I have Dalinian thought: the one thing the world will never

I have Dalinian thought: the one thing the world will never have enough of is the outrageous.

It's lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all

It's lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened.

The history of an oppressed people is hidden in the lies and

The history of an oppressed people is hidden in the lies and the agreed myth of its conquerors.

Meridel Le Sueur

I don't have a bank account because I don't know my mother's

I don't have a bank account because I don't know my mother's maiden name.

Paula Poundstone

Many people have their reputations as reporters and analysts

Many people have their reputations as reporters and analysts because they are on television, batting around conventional wisdom. A lot of these people have never reported a story.

Only enemies speak the truth friends and lovers lie endlessl

Only enemies speak the truth friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty.

A man is not necessarily intelligent because he has plenty o

A man is not necessarily intelligent because he has plenty of ideas, any more than he is a good general because he has plenty of soldiers.

Sebastian Roch Nicolas Chamfort