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Voltaire
Find the best quotes, maxims and aphorisms of Voltaire
Biography : François-Marie Arouet, known by his nom de plume Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher.
Born: 1694 - Died: 1778
Period:
18th century
17th century
Place of birth: France
France
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Voltaire - Quotes




Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.
Voltaire






Fear follows crime and is its punishment.
Voltaire






It is vain for the coward to flee death follows close behind it is only by defying it that the brave escape.
Voltaire






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






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






It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.
Voltaire






Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient.
Voltaire






Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
Voltaire






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.
Voltaire






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.
Voltaire






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






Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?
Voltaire






What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly - that is the first law of nature.
Voltaire






The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year.
Voltaire






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






He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise.
Voltaire






Satire lies about literary men while they live and eulogy lies about them when they die.
Voltaire






Never argue at the dinner table, for the one who is not hungry always gets the best of the argument.
Voltaire






To hold a pen is to be at war.
Voltaire






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






In this country it is a good thing to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.
Voltaire






We must cultivate our own garden. When man was put in the garden of Eden he was put there so that he should work, which proves that man was not born to rest.
Voltaire






The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out.
Voltaire






Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.
Voltaire






Nature has always had more force than education.
Voltaire






We are rarely proud when we are alone.
Voltaire






The little may contrast with the great, in painting, but cannot be said to be contrary to it. Oppositions of colors contrast but there are also colors contrary to each other, that is, which produce an ill effect because they shock the eye when brought very near it.
Voltaire






Tears are the silent language of grief.
Voltaire






It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love.
Voltaire






To believe in God is impossible not to believe in Him is absurd.
Voltaire










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