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Voltaire Quotes - Page 14

All Quotes Abuse Acceptance Adversity Age Appreciation Art Atheism Atheist Beauty Beer Belief Boredom Certainty Character Children Christianity Church Common Sense Cooking Country Courage Crime Death Democracy Destiny Devil Doubt Dying Earth Eating Education Equality Evil Excellence Exercise Failure Faith Fame Fate Fear Feelings Food Freedom Friendship Funny Genius Giving God Gossip Grace Greatness Grief Happiness Hate Health Heart Heaven Hell History Human Nature Humanity Ignorance Imagination Independence Injustice Insanity Inspiration Inspirational Inspiring Justice Killing Knowledge Language Learning Liberty Life Loss Love Lying Madness Mankind Marriage Math Metaphysics Military Money Morality Motivational Nature Optimism Originality Passion Peace Perfection Philosophy Pleasure Poetry Politics Positive Thinking Prayer Prejudice Pride Progress Property Purpose Reading Reality Religion Reputation Revolution Risk Running Science Sin Sleep Soul Spirituality Stupidity Style Time Today Tolerance Tragedy Truth Virtue War Weakness Wine Wisdom Wit Work Writing Yoga

Of all religions, the Christian should of course inspire the most tolerance, but until now Christians have been the most intolerant of all men.

Of all religions, the Christian should of course inspire the most tolerance, but until now Christians have been the most intolerant of all men.

Christian, Men, Inspire

If we would destroy the Christian religion, we must first of all destroy man's belief in the Bible.

Christian, Men, Atheism

Now, now my good man, this is no time to be making enemies." (Voltaire on his deathbed in response to a priest asking him that he renounce Satan.)

Men, Good Man, Enemy

I acknowledge that four thousand volumes of metaphysics will not teach us what our soul is.

Soul, Four, Volume

"Voltaire – The Philosophical Works".

I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our more stupid melancholy propensities, for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one’s very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?

Stupid, Heart, Love Life

Voltaire (1956). “Candide: or, Optimism”

All succeeds with people who are sweet and cheerful.

Sweet, People, Cheerful

Reading nurtures the soul, and an enlightened friend brings it solace.

Reading, Soul, Enlightened

Voltaire, Roger Pearson (2006). “Candide and Other Stories”, p.222, OUP Oxford

A good imitation is the most perfect originality

Perfect, Originality, Imitation

Man can have only a certain number of teeth, hair and ideas; there comes a time when he necessarily loses his teeth, hair and ideas.

Men, Hair, Ideas

A Philosophical Dictionary 'Physicians' (1764)

The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of reason.

Truth, Religion, Atheism

England has forty-two religions and only two sauces.

Atheist, Two, Religion

Only your friends steal your books.

Book, Stealing

He wanted to know how they prayed to God in El Dorado. "We do not pray to him at all," said the reverend sage. "We have nothing to ask of him. He has given us all we want, and we give him thanks continually.

Giving, Sage, Want

Voltaire (1780). “The Works of Mr. de Voltaire. Translated from the French. With Notes. By T. Francklin ... T. Smollett, M.D., and Others. A New Edition”, p.69

It is not enough to be exceptionally mad, licentious and fanatical in order to win a great reputation; it is still necessary to arrive on the scene at the right time.

Success, Winning, Order

There are men who can think no deeper than a fact.

Funny, Men, Thinking

A lady of honor may be raped once, but it strengthens her virtue.

Honor, May, Virtue

Francois Voltaire (1977). “The Portable Voltaire”, p.167, Penguin

The public is a ferocious beast; one must either chain it or flee from it.

Political, Politics, Beast

If you want good laws, burn those you have and make new ones.

Law, Want, Lawyer

"Dictionnaire philosophique" by Voltaire, ("Laws"), 1764.

Everything happens through immutable laws, ...everything is necessary... There are, some persons say, some events which are necessary and others which are not. It would be very comic that one part of the world was arranged, and the other were not; that one part of what happens had to happen and that another part of what happens did not have to happen. If one looks closely at it, one sees that the doctrine contrary to that of destiny is absurd; but there are many people destined to reason badly; others not to reason at all others to persecute those who reason.

Destiny, Law, People

Men will commit atrocities as long as they believe absurdities.

Believe, Men, Long

Optimism," said Cacambo, "What is that?" "Alas!" replied Candide, "It is the obstinacy of maintaining that everything is best when it is worst.

Optimistic, Optimism, Maintaining

Francois Marie Arouet De Voltaire (2004). “Candide (Sparklesoup Classics)”, p.48, Sparklesoup LLC

The worthy administrators of justice are like a cat set to take care of a cheese, lest it should be gnawed by the mice. One bite of the cat does more damage to the cheese than twenty mice can do.

Cat, Justice, Twenties

Voltaire (2016). “VOLTAIRE – Premium Collection: Novels, Philosophical Writings, Historical Works, Plays, Poems & Letters (60+ Works in One Volume) - Illustrated: Candide, A Philosophical Dictionary, A Treatise on Toleration, Plato's Dream, The Princess of Babylon, Zadig, The Huron, Socrates, The Sage and the Atheist, Dialogues, Oedipus, Caesar…”, p.2544, e-artnow

History is nothing but a pack of tricks that we play upon the dead.

Play, History, Tricks

my soul is the mirror of the universe, and my body is its frame

Mirrors, Soul, Body

Voltaire (2006). “Candide and Other Stories”, p.105, OUP Oxford

He who can lead you to believe an absurdity can lead you to commit an atrocity.

Believe, Atrocities, Absurdity

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