Top 14 Most Famous Voltaire Quotes (FRENCH AUTHOR)
PinIf you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.PinCherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it.PinJudge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers.PinAppreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.PinThink for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too.PinEach 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.PinThe more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing.PinEvery man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.PinLove is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination.PinWhen it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion.PinDon’t think money does everything or you are going to end up doing everything for money.PinMay God defend me from my friends: I can defend myself from my enemies.PinGive 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.PinGod gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.
18 Voltaire Quotes on Government and Religion (FREEDOM OF SPEECH)
“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.”
Voltaire
PinThe right to free speech is more important than the content of the speech.PinI disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.PinDare to think for yourself.PinBeware of the words “internal security,” for they are the eternal cry of the oppressor.PinLet us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.PinOur 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.PinIt is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.PinIt is better to risk saving a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one.PinIt is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.PinThose who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.PinIndeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.PinThe comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor.PinIn general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another.PinIt is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.PinIt is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of the same opinion, is a monster.PinMany are destined to reason wrongly; others, not to reason at all; and others, to persecute those who do reason.PinInjustice in the end produces independence.
PinLife is too short, time too valuable, to spend it on what is useless.PinThe pursuit of what is true and the practice of what is good are the two most important objects of philosophy.PinEverything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said.PinThe more you read without thinking, the more you think you know a lot but the more you meditate, the more you see that you know very little.PinLife is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.PinThe longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.PinThe most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.PinWork spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.PinThe mirror is a worthless invention. The only way to truly see yourself is in the reflection of someone else’s eyes.PinMen are equal; it is not birth but virtue that makes the difference.PinFools 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.PinOptimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.PinFaith consists in believing what reason cannot.PinCommon sense is not so common.PinPaper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value – zero.PinIf God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.PinThe secret of being a bore is to tell everything.PinTo succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered.PinLove truth, but pardon error.PinThe more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom.PinI don’t know where I am going, but I am on my way.PinEvery man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time.PinChance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause.PinIs there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?PinIf there’s life on other planets, then the earth is the Universe’s insane asylum.PinIt is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.PinPrejudices are what fools use for reason.PinDoubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one.PinWe are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies.PinThe happiest of all lives is a busy solitude.PinI’ve decided to be happy because it is good for my health.
Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) Short Biography
Born on 21 November 1694 in Paris, France, François-Marie Arouet was the French writer and philosopher more commonly known as Voltaire.
Voltaire was a student of Louis-le-Grand, a Jesuit college located in Paris. It was here that he formed a love for literature and theater, and from an early age displayed a love for writing.
After his studies he had decided to become a writer, defying his father who wanted him to take up law.
In 1713, he worked as a secretary at the French Embassy but fell in love with a French protestant girl and was ordered home.
Voltaire was known to be a vocal critic of the French government, so much so that he was imprisoned in Bastille in 1717 for mocking the Duke of Orleans.
After his release a year later, he adopted the name Voltaire, the origin of which is unknown. Voltaire released Oedipe in the same year, his first tragedy. He shortly began his career as a court poet following its success.
Voltaire was a prolific writer, having written more than 50 plays. But a lot of his work was banned by the French government for his views of the Roman Catholic Church. To counter this, he would have his work printed abroad.
Even after his death Voltaire is still being widely celebrated and read.
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