Every man is to be respected as an absolute end in himself: and it is a crime against the dignity that belongs to him as a human being to use him as a mere means for some external purpose.

— Immanuel Kant

Everything in nature acts in conformity with law.

— Immanuel Kant

Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play.

— Immanuel Kant

...[F]freedom... is a property of all rational beings.

— Immanuel Kant

Finer feeling, which we now wish to consider, is chiefly of two kinds: the feeling of the *sublime* and that of the *beautiful*. The stirring of each is pleasant, but in different ways. The sight of a mountain whose snow-covered peak rises above the clouds, the description of a raging storm, or Milton's portrayal of the infernal kingdom, arouse enjoyment but with horror; on the other hand, the sight of flower strewn meadows, valleys with winding brooks and covered with grazing flocks, the description of Elysium, or Homer's portrayal of the girdle of Venus, also occasion a pleasant sensation but one that is joyous and smiling. In order that the former impression could occur to us in due strength, we must have *a feeling of the sublime*, and, in order to enjoy the latter well, *a feeling of the beautiful*. Tall oaks and lonely shadows in a sacred grove are sublime; flower beds, low hedges and trees trimmed in figures are beautiful. Night is sublime; day is beautiful. Temperaments that possess a feeling for the sublime are drawn gradually, by the quiet stillness of a summer evening as the shimmering light of the stars breaks through the brown shadows of night and the lonely moon rises into view, into high feelings of friendship, of disdain for the world, of eternity. The shining day stimulates busy fervor and a feeling of gaiety. The sublime *moves*, the beautiful *charms*.

— Immanuel Kant

Freedom is alone the originated birthright of man, and belongs to him by force of his humanity; and is independent of the will and co-action of every other…

— Immanuel Kant

From the crooked timber of humanity, a straight board cannot be hewn.

— Immanuel Kant

Genius is the ability to independently arrive at and understand concepts that would normally have to be taught by another person.

— Immanuel Kant

Give me matter, and I will construct a world out of it!

— Immanuel Kant

Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination.

— Immanuel Kant