Quotes by
Voltaire |
François-Marie Arouet, 1694-1778 , French philosopher & writer
François-Marie Arouet, known by his nom de plume Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and separation of church and state.He was one of the greatest of all French writers. Although only a few of his works are still read, he continues to be held in worldwide repute as a courageous crusader against tyranny, bigotry, and cruelty.
He is considered the greatest man of the 18th century.
| 48 quotes | 32,223 visits |
Quotations
| • | Religion began when the first scoundrel met the first fool. 137 |
| • | To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize. 63 |
| • | Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities. 52 |
| • | I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. 41 |
| • | God created sex. Priests created marriage. 36 |
| • | It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong. 30 |
| • | It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets. 26 |
| • | I cannot imagine how the clockwork of the universe can exist without a clockmaker. 20 |
| • | I don’t know where I am going, but I am on my way. 19 |
| • | It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce. 18 |
| • | It is sad that often, to be a good patriot, one must be the enemy of the rest of mankind. 16 |
| • | If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. 16 |
| • | I always made one prayer to God: “O Lord, make our enemies quite ridiculous! ”God granted it. 16 |
| • | If God has made us in his image, we have returned him the favor. 16 |
| • | Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively. 15 |
| • | In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another. 14 |
| • | Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats. 14 |
| • | Doctors are men who prescribe medicine of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, for human beings of which they know nothing. 14 |
| • | Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy, the mad daughter of a wise mother. These daughters have too long dominated the earth. 14 |
| • | Common sense is not so common. 13 |
| • | Politics is the first of the arts and the last of the trades. 13 |
| • | Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do. 13 |
| • | In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense. 12 |
| • | Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers. 10 |
| • | Love is of all the passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart, and the body. 10 |
| • | It is better to risk sparing a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one. 10 |
| • | Paradise on earth is where I am. 10 |
| • | For an evil-minded man everything is a pretext. 9 |
| • | This agglomeration which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire. 9 |
| • | The doctrine of reincarnation is neither absurd nor useless. It is not more surprising to be born twice than once. 8 |
| • | We never live; we are always in the expectation of living. 8 |
| • | The best is the enemy of the good. 8 |
| • | The ancient Romans built their greatest masterpieces of architecture for wild beasts to fight in. 8 |
| • | When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion. 7 |
| • | Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world. 6 |
| • | The public is a ferocious beast: one must chain it up or flee from it. 6 |
| • | There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times. 6 |
| • | The secret of being a bore is to tell everything. 6 |
| • | Coincidence is the known result of unknown causes. 5 |
| • | The English have only one sauce, melted butter. 5 |
| • | If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others? 5 |
| • | The husband who decides to surprise his wife is often very much surprised himself. 5 |
| • | Love truth, but pardon error. 5 |
| • | Man is free at the instant he wants to be. 5 |
| • | History is only the pattern of silken slippers descending the stairs to the thunder of hobnailed boots climbing upward from below. 4 |
| • | Our labor preserves us from three great evils -- weariness, vice, and want. 4 |
| • | A witty saying proves nothing. 4 |
| • | To hold a pen is to be at war. 4 |
