1001Philosophers

John Finnis Quotes on Knowledge

John Finnis is an Australian-British legal and moral philosopher, emeritus professor of law at Oxford and a long-time professor at the University of Notre Dame. This page collects quotes attributed to John Finnis on the topic of knowledge, drawn from across the philosopher's works.

Quotes

  • Attributed to John Finnis:

    “There are basic human goods that reason grasps as good in themselves.”

  • “A man who could make so vile a pun would not scruple to pick a pocket.”

    The Gentleman's Magazine (1781), Vol. LI. p. 324.
  • “The Gentleman's Magazine (1781), Vol. LI. p. 324.”

    A man who could make so vile a pun would not scruple to pick a pocket.
  • “See how the rascals use me! They will not let my play run; and yet they steal my thunder.”

    Alternately reported as: "That is my thunder, by God; the villains will play my thunder, but not my play." Reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations , 10th ed. (1919). | Note: Dennis had written a tragedy, Appius and Virginia , for which he had invented a new technique for creating the sound of thunder , which the actors favored and which remained in use for centuries thereafter. The play itself