Voltaire

Find the best quotes, maxims and aphorisms of Voltaire

Biography : François-Marie Arouet, known by his nom de plume Voltaire was a French writer, historian, and philosopher, a leading figure of the Enlightenment, famous for defending freedom, tolerance, and for criticizing religious fanaticism and social injustice.
Born: 1694 - Died: 1778
Period:
18th century
17th century
Place of birth: France
France

France

Voltaire - Quotes

Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.
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Fear follows crime and is its punishment.
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fear

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

It is forbidden to kill therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.
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It is said that the present is pregnant with the future.
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It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.
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beauty

Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient.
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Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
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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.
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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.
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life

We are all full of weakness and errors let us mutually pardon each other our follies - it is the first law of nature.
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Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?
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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.
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tolerance

The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year.
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The safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.
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He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise.
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Satire lies about literary men while they live and eulogy lies about them when they die.
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Never argue at the dinner table, for the one who is not hungry always gets the best of the argument.
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To hold a pen is to be at war.
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When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion.
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In this country it is a good thing to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.
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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.
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The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out.
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Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.
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Nature has always had more force than education.
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We are rarely proud when we are alone.
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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.
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Tears are the silent language of grief.
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It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love.
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love

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