Quotes By Voltaire

Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.

We cannot wish for that we know not.

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.

We cannot always oblige; but we can always speak obligingly.

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.

I am very fond of truth, but not at all of martyrdom.

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

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

If God created us in his own image, we have more than reciprocated.

The husband who decides to surprise his wife is often very much surprised himself.

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

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

Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another.

He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead.

Love has features which pierce all hearts, he wears a bandage which conceals the faults of those beloved. He has wings, he comes quickly and flies away the same.

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

Very learned women are to be found, in the same manner as female warriors; but they are seldom or ever inventors.

The mouth obeys poorly when the heart murmurs.

Common sense is not so common.

What a heavy burden is a name that has become too famous.

Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy the mad daughter of a wise mother. These daughters have too long dominated the earth.

Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.

The first step, my son, which one makes in the world, is the one on which depends the rest of our days.

The secret of being a bore... is to tell everything.

One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose.

In the case of news, we should always wait for the sacrament of confirmation.

What then do you call your soul? What idea have you of it? You cannot of yourselves, without revelation, admit the existence within you of anything but a power unknown to you of feeling and thinking.

A witty saying proves nothing.

The ear is the avenue to the heart.

The ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination.