Selected Quotes By Voltaire
"Liberty of thought is the life of the soul."
Voltaire, Freedom
"It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part."
Voltaire, Intelligence/Wisdom
"He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked."
Voltaire, Intelligence/Wisdom
"The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by Infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity."
Voltaire, Belief
"Our labour preserves us from three great evils -- weariness, vice, and want."
Voltaire, Work
"Animals have these advantages over man: they never hear the clock strike, they die without any idea of death, they have no theologians to instruct them, their last moments are not disturbed by unwelcome and unpleasant ceremonies, their funerals cost them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills."
Voltaire, Life
"The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us."
Voltaire, Happiness
"It is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of the same opinion, is a monster."
Voltaire, Kindness
"Perfect is the enemy of good."
Voltaire, Kindness
"Sensual pleasure passes and vanishes, but the friendship between us, the mutual confidence, the delight of the heart, the enchantment of the soul, these things do not perish and can never be destroyed."
Voltaire, Love
"No opinion is worth burning your neighbor for."
Voltaire, Anger and Fighting
"It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce."
Voltaire, Anger and Fighting
"Don't think money does everything or you are going to end up doing everything for money."
Voltaire, Wealth
"The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor."
Voltaire, Wealth
"We never live; we are always in the expectation of living."
Voltaire, Life
"Prejudices are what fools use for reason."
Voltaire, Intelligence/Wisdom
“Optimism," said Cacambo, "What is that?" "Alas!" replied Candide, "It is the obstinacy of maintaining that everything is best when it is worst.”
Voltaire, Happiness
"Illusion is the first of all pleasures."
Voltaire, Happiness
"The human brain is a complex organ with the wonderful power of enabling man to find reasons for continuing to believe whatever it is that he wants to believe."
Voltaire, Intelligence/Wisdom
"You're a bitter man," said Candide. "That's because I've lived," said Martin.
Voltaire, Life
"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."
Voltaire, Belief
"Ice-cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn't illegal."
Voltaire, Happiness
"Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road."
Voltaire, Life
"Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time."
Voltaire, Intelligence/Wisdom
"Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well."
Voltaire, Happiness
"Faith consists in believing what reason cannot."
Voltaire, Belief
"Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too."
Voltaire, Freedom
"It is better to risk saving a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one."
Voltaire, Government
"The secret of being a bore is to tell everything."
Voltaire, Intelligence/Wisdom
"Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it."
Voltaire, Truth
"God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere."
Voltaire, Belief
"The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood."
Voltaire, Life
"It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong."
Voltaire, Government
"Despite the enormous quantity of books, how few people read! And if one reads profitably, one would realize how much stupid stuff the vulgar herd is content to swallow every day."
Voltaire, Intelligence/Wisdom
"Now, now my good man, this is no time to be making enemies." (Voltaire on his deathbed in response to a priest asking him that he renounce Satan.)"
Voltaire, Belief
"Dare to think for yourself."
Voltaire, Freedom
"Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do."
Voltaire, Kindness
"God is a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh."
Voltaire, Belief
"Fools have a habit of believing that everything written by a famous author is admirable. For my part I read only to please myself and like only what suits my taste."
Voltaire, Intelligence/Wisdom
"I don’t know where I am going, but I am on my way."
Voltaire, Life
"I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it."
Voltaire, Belief
"Love truth, but pardon error."
Voltaire, Love, Truth, Mistakes
"Common sense is not so common."
Voltaire, Intelligence/Wisdom
"The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing."
Voltaire, Intelligence/Wisdom
"Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities."
Voltaire, Intelligence/Wisdom
"Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats."
Voltaire, Happiness
"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets."
Voltaire, Kindness
"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers."
Voltaire, Intelligence/Wisdom
"Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world."