Quotes By Voltaire

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.

Let us work without theorizing, tis the only way to make life endurable.

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

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.

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

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.

Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.

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 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.

A witty saying proves nothing.

The ear is the avenue to the heart.

The ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination.

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.

I should like to lie at your feet and die in your arms.

Nature has always had more force than education.

Prejudices are what fools use for reason.

The ancient Romans built their greatest masterpieces of architecture, their amphitheaters, for wild beasts to fight in.

Whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors.

Men hate the individual whom they call avaricious only because nothing can be gained from him.

All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.