François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778,) known by his nom de plume Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a versatile writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken advocate, despite the risk this placed him in under the strict censorship laws of the time. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma, and the French institutions of his day.
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Men who are occupied in the restoration of health to other men, by the joint exertion of skill and humanity, are above all the great of the earth. They even partake of divinity, since to preserve and renew is almost as noble as to create.
—Voltaire
The richest endowments of the mind are temperance, prudence, and fortitude. Prudence is a universal virtue, which enters into the composition of all the rest; and where she is not, fortitude loses its name and nature.
—Voltaire
Doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous.
—Voltaire
Topics: Doubt
Anyone who seeks to destroy the passions instead of controlling them is trying to play the angel.
—Voltaire
Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.
—Voltaire
Man is free at the moment he wishes to be.
—Voltaire
Do well and you will have no need for ancestors.
—Voltaire
It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere.
—Voltaire
Topics: Freedom
The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error.
—Voltaire
I don’t agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
—Voltaire
Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.
—Voltaire
Topics: Work
I am a little deaf, a little blind, a little impotent, and on top of this are two or three abominable infirmities, but nothing destroys my hope.
—Voltaire
As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities.
—Voltaire
Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.
—Voltaire
I doubt not that in due time, when the arts are brought to perfection, some means will be found to give a sound head to a man who has none at all.
—Voltaire
Topics: Intelligence
Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?
—Voltaire
The discovery of what is true and the practice of that which is good, are the two most important aims of philosophy.
—Voltaire
Better is the enemy of good.
—Voltaire
Exaggeration is the inseparable companion of greatness.
—Voltaire
Shun idleness. It is a rust that attaches itself to the most brilliant metals.
—Voltaire
Prejudices are what rule the vulgar crowd.
—Voltaire
History is the recital of facts represented as true. Fable, on the other hand, is the recital of facts represented as fiction. The history of man’s ideas is nothing more than the chronicle of human error.
—Voltaire
Topics: History
The punishment of criminals should serve a purpose. When a man is hanged he is useless.
—Voltaire
Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination.
—Voltaire
Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.
—Voltaire
Topics: Judgment, Questions
Weakness on both sides is the motto of all quarrels.
—Voltaire
A witty saying proves nothing.
—Voltaire
When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion.
—Voltaire
Pleasure is the object, duty and the goal of all rational creatures.
—Voltaire
To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered.
—Voltaire
Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung.
—Voltaire
You must have the devil in you to succeed in the arts.
—Voltaire
Topics: evil
Happiness grows in our own gardens, and it is not to be picked up in strangers garden.
—Voltaire
Everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.
—Voltaire
Topics: World
All is for the best in the best of the possible worlds.
—Voltaire
I was never ruined but twice; once when I lost a lawsuit and once when I won one.
—Voltaire
He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked.
—Voltaire
We cannot always oblige, but we can always speak obligingly.
—Voltaire
Topics: Manners
No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.
—Voltaire
One of the chief misfortunes of honest people is that they are cowardly.
—Voltaire
What a heavy burden is a name that has become famous too soon.
—Voltaire
I do not like heroes; they make too much noise in the world. The more radiant their glory, the more odious they are.
—Voltaire
Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
—Voltaire
Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.
—Voltaire
History consists of a series of accumulated imaginative inventions.
—Voltaire
Topics: One liners, History
Tears are the silent language of grief.
—Voltaire
Topics: Crying
Common sense is anything but common.
—Voltaire
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