Voltaire quotes

Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes.

Earth is an insane asylum, to which the other planets deport their lunatics.

Beware of the words "internal security," for they are the eternal cry of the oppressor.

The biggest reward for a thing well done is to have done it.

All the reasonings of men are not worth one sentiment of women.

The perfect is the enemy of the good.

What can you say to a man who tells you he prefers obeying God rather than men, and that as a result he's certain he'll go to heaven if he cuts your throat?

Wherever my travels may lead, paradise is where I am.

You have no control over the hand that life deals you, but how you play that hand is entirely up to you.

It is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of the same opinion, is a monster.

God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.

If there’s life on other planets, then the earth is the Universe’s insane asylum.

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.

Among the illusions which have invested our civilization is an absolute belief that the solutions to our problems must be a more determined application of rationally organized expertise... The reality is that our problems are largely the product of that application.

There is no such thing as an accident. What we call by that name is the effect of some cause which we do not see.

May God defend me from my friends: I can defend myself from my enemies.

So long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men.

The darkness is at its deepest. Just before the sunrise.

The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us

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.

Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them.

The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom.

Man is free at the instant he wants to be.

The art of government is to make two-thirds of a nation pay all it possibly can pay for the benefit of the other third.

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.

What is history? The lie that everyone agrees on.

It is said that the present is pregnant with the future.

The right to free speech is more important than the content of the speech.

I hate women because they always know where things are.

If one does not reflect, one thinks oneself master of everything; but when one does reflect, one realizes that one is master of nothing.

Doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous.

Twenty-volume folios will never make a revolution. It’s the little pocket pamphlets that are to be feared.

Writing is the painting of the voice.

Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said.

Present opportunities are not to be neglected; they rarely visit us twice.

The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor.

It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.

Many are destined to reason wrongly; others, not to reason at all; and others, to persecute those who do reason.

No opinion is worth burning your neighbor for.

To really enjoy pleasures, you must know how to leave them.

The more you know, the less sure you are.

‎Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.

The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by Infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity.

When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion.

Faith consists in believing what reason cannot.

God created sex. Priests created marriage.

It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.

To the wicked, everything serves as pretext.

History never repeats itself. Man always does.

When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food, and the joy of living. Tecumseh Appreciation is a wonderful thing; it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

Every one should be his own physician. We ought to assist, and not to force nature. Eat with moderation...Nothing is good for the body but what we can digest. What medicine can procure digestion? Exercise. What will recruit strength? Sleep.

War is the greatest of all crimes; and yet there is no aggressor who does not color his crime with the pretext of justice.

The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.

Doctors put drugs of which they know little into bodies of which they know less for diseases of which they know nothing at all.

Those who can be made to believe absurdities can be made to commit atrocities.

One always speaks badly when one has nothing to say.

The man who leaves money to charity in his will is only giving away what no longer belongs to him

Every man can educate himself. It's shameful to put one's mind into the hands of those whom you wouldn't entrust with your money. Dare to think for yourself.

Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.

A yawn may not be polite, but at least it is an honest opinion.

One great use of words is to hide our thoughts.

No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.

The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing.

The Jews are of all peoples the grosses, the most ferocious, the most fanatical, and the most absurd.

He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked.

Common sense is not so common.

Being unable to make people more reasonable, I preferred to be happy away from them

Liberty of thought is the life of the soul.

Dont think money does everything or you are going to end up doing everything for money.

What is madness? To have erroneous perceptions and to reason correctly from them.

To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered.

Men argue. Nature acts.

I cannot imagine how the clockwork of the universe can exist without a clockmaker.

If you have two religions in your land, the two will cut each other’s throats; but if you have thirty religions, they will dwell in peace

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it.

As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities.

Being a bird ain't all about flying and shitting from high places.

A man loved by a beautiful woman will always get out of trouble.

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another.

It is the characteristic of the most stringent censorships that they give credibility to the opinions they attack.

The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.

Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.

The more a man knows, the less he talks.

We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies - it is the first law of nature.

Je ne suis pas d'accord avec ce que vous dites, mais je d‚fendrai jusqu'... la mort le droit que vous avez de le dire/ I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it

It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.

If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities.

Truth is a fruit which should not be plucked until it is ripe.

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.

Give me the patience for the small things of life, courage for the great trials of life. Help me to do my best each day and then go to sleep knowing God is awake.

The tyranny of the many would be when one body takes over the rights of others, and then exercises its power to change the laws in its favor.

Time is man's most precious asset. All men neglect it; all regret the loss of it; nothing can be done without it.

The Bible. That is what fools have written, what imbeciles commend, what rogues teach and young children are made to learn by heart.

Clever tyrants are never punished.

The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude.

We are all guilty of the good we did not do

The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.

The man who says to me, "Believe as I do, or God will damn you," will presently say, "Believe as I do, or I shall assassinate you."

God created woman to tame man.

There can be no happiness without good health

Democracy is just a filler for textbooks! Do you actually believe that public opinion influences the government?

Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.

Dare to think for yourself.

A long dispute means both parties are wrong.

The true triumph of reason is that it enables us to get along with those who do not possess it.

Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.

If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.

The safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.

The mirror is a worthless invention. The only way to truly see yourself is in the reflection of someone else's eyes.

He who thinks himself wise, O heavens! is a great fool.

It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong.

Be bold, proclaim it everywhere: They only live who dare.

Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it.

Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion that has ever infected the world.

One day everything will be well, that is our hope. Everything's fine today, that is our illusion.

Prejudices are what fools use for reason.

Once your faith persuades you to believe what your intelligence declares absurd, beware, lest you likewise sacrifice your reason in the conduct of your life.

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.

Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.

Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value - zero.

Men will always be mad, and those who think they can cure them are the maddest of all.

Is politics nothing other than the art of deliberately lying?

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.

God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions.

Which is more dangerous: fanaticism or atheism? Fanaticism is certainly a thousand times more deadly; for atheism inspires no bloody passion whereas fanaticism does; atheism is opposed to crime and fanaticism causes crimes to be committed.