Jacques Derrida Quotes
Jacques Derrida was a 20th-century French philosopher, born in French Algeria, who developed the influential approach to philosophical, literary, and political analysis known as deconstruction. His major works of the 1960s, Of Grammatology, Writing and Difference, and Speech and Phenomena, argued that Western philosophy has long privileged speech over writing and presence over difference, and that careful reading of canonical texts reveals the instability of these oppositions. The quotes below are attributed to Jacques Derrida, organized by topic.
Jacques Derrida on Justice
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Attributed to Jacques Derrida:
“Justice is undeconstructible.”
Jacques Derrida on Knowledge
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Attributed to Jacques Derrida:
“Deconstruction is not a method, and cannot be transformed into one.”
Jacques Derrida on Love
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Attributed to Jacques Derrida:
“Every other one is every other one.”
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Attributed to Jacques Derrida:
“Friendship implies the privilege of being able to be alone in the presence of the friend.”
Jacques Derrida on Mind
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Attributed to Jacques Derrida:
“I am at war with myself, it's true.”
Jacques Derrida on Time
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Attributed to Jacques Derrida:
“The future can only be anticipated in the form of an absolute danger.”
Jacques Derrida on Truth
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Attributed to Jacques Derrida:
“There is nothing outside of the text.”
Jacques Derrida on Virtue
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Attributed to Jacques Derrida:
“Forgiveness forgives only the unforgivable. From the moment one forgives only what is forgivable, the very idea of forgiveness disappears.”