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Denis Diderot
said
The arbitrary rule of a just and enlightened prince is always bad.
— "Refutation of Helvétius" (written 1773-76, published 1875)
Denis Diderot
French Enlightenment philosopher writer and encyclopædist (1713–1784)
- Fame80.1
- Momentum16.2
- France rank#38
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Summary
Updated 2026-08-24
He co-founded the Encyclopédie, the first great encyclopedia of the modern world — and for that sin the Church banned it, the government tried to kill it, and his collaborators fled or went to jail. Diderot stayed, writing 7,000 articles himself, broke and convinced it was all a waste.
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Diderot studied philosophy with the Jesuits, flirted with the clergy, then told his father in 1734 he'd be a writer instead — and was promptly disowned. He spent the next decade scraping by, producing fiction and essays in the 1740s, including the novel Les Bijoux indiscrets. In 1751 he and Jean le Rond d'Alembert launched the Encyclopédie, the first encyclopedia to credit contributors by name and chronicle the mechanical arts; its secular skepticism about Biblical miracles enraged the Church, which banned it in 1758, then the French crown a year later. Contributors scattered, some jailed. D'A…
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Sourced, dated quotes from Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot
said
It has been said that love robs those who have it of their wit, and gives it to those who have none.
— Paradoxe sur le Comédien (1773-1777)
Denis Diderot
said
There is no kind of harassment that a man may not inflict on a woman with impunity in civilized societies.
— "On Women" (1772), as translated in Selected Writings (1966) edited by Lester G. Crocker
Denis Diderot
said
Only a very bad theologian would confuse the certainty that follows revelation with the truths that are revealed. They are entirely different things.
— Apology for the Abbé de Prades (1752)
Denis Diderot
said
If you want me to believe in God, you must make me touch him.
— Portraying a fictional conversation of Nicholas Saunderson with a priest, in ' Lettre sur les aveugles [Letter about the Blind] (1749), as
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The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.
Fame
Rising80.1
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum16.2
Historical25.3
Now attention76.0
Source confidence70.0
Completeness80.0
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Sources
- WikidataHigh confidencewikidata · wikidata.org
- WikipediaHigh confidencewikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
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