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Voltaire Quotes - Page 16

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

The history of human opinion is scarcely anything more than the history of human errors.

The history of human opinion is scarcely anything more than the history of human errors.

Errors, Opinion, Humans

Voltaire (2015). “Delphi Collected Works of Voltaire (Illustrated)”, p.3782, Delphi Classics

History is only the pattern of silken slippers descending the stairs to the thunder of hobnailed boots climbing upward from below.

Climbing, History, Boots

The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year.

Good Day, Opportunity, Years

"Zadig; Or, The Book of Fate". Book by Voltaire, 1747.

the women are never at a loss, God provides for them, let us run.

Running, Loss, God Provides

Voltaire (2016). “Candide”, p.37, Xist Publishing

It is reported in the supplement of the council of Nicæan that the fathers, being very perplexed to know which were the cryphal or apocryphal books of the Old and New Testaments, put them all pell-mell on an altar, and the books to be rejected fell to the ground. It is a pity that this eloquent procedure has not survived.

Father, Book, Atheism

A witty saying proves nothing.

Inspirational, Witty, Humorous

An infallible method of making fanatics is to persuade before you instruct.

Method, Infallible, Fanatics

Voltaire (2015). “Delphi Collected Works of Voltaire (Illustrated)”, p.4181, Delphi Classics

Needless to say since Christ's expiation not one single Christian has been known to sin, or die.

Christian, Sin, Has Beens

History is the recital of facts represented as true. Fable, on the other hand, is the recital of facts represented as fiction.

Hands, History, Fiction

Voltaire (1955). “Voltaire's Alphabet of wit”

What! Have you no monks to teach, to dispute, to govern, to intrigue and to burn people who do not agree with them?

People, Atheism, Candide

Francois Voltaire (1977). “The Portable Voltaire”, p.192, Penguin

Music is the pathway to the heart.

Heart, Pathways, Music Is

The policy of man consists, at first, in endeavoring to arrive at a state equal to that of animals, whom nature has furnished with food, clothing, and shelter.

Animal, Men, Progress

Voltaire (2016). “Voltaire – The Philosophical Works: Treatise On Tolerance, Philosophical Dictionary, Candide, Letters on England, Plato’s Dream, Dialogues, The Study of Nature, Ancient Faith and Fable, Zadig…: From the French writer, historian and philosopher, famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion and freedom of expression”, p.1636, e-artnow

If you wish to obtain a great name or to found an establishment, be completely mad; but be sure that your madness corresponds with the turn and temper of your age.

Names, Mad, Wish

Alas...I too have known love, that ruler of hearts, that soul of our soul: it's never brought me anything except one kiss and twenty kicks in the rump. How could such a beautiful cause produce such an abominable effect on you?

Beautiful, Heart, Kissing

Men are in general so tricky, so envious, and so cruel that when we find one who is only weak, we are too happy.

Men, Weakness, Envious

The man visited by ecstasies and visions, who takes dreams for realities is an enthusiast; the man who supports his madness with murder is a fanatic.

Dream, Men, Reality

It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love.

Love, Self, Anorexia

Fanaticism, to which men are so much inclined, has always served not only to render them more brutalized but more wicked.

Men, Wicked, Fanaticism

This self-love is the instrument of our preservation; it resembles the provision for the perpetuity of mankind: it is necessary, it is dear to us, it gives us pleasure, and we must conceal it.

Love Is, Self, Giving

Voltaire (1824). “A Philosophical Dictionary”, p.73

The passions are the winds which fill the sails of the vessel; they sink it at times, but without them it would be impossible to make way.

Passion, Wind, Would Be

Whatever you do, trample down abuses, and love those who love you. Different translation: Whatever you do, crush the infamous thing superstition, and love those who love you.

Love, Crush, Abuse

Let us meet four times a year in a grand temple with music, and thank God for all his gifts. There is one sun. There is one God. Let us have one religion. Then all mankind will be brethren.

Years, Religion, Thank God

Governments need to have both shepherds and butchers.

Funny, Government, Shepherds

'The Piccini Notebooks' (c.1735-c.1750) in T. Besterman (ed.) 'Notebooks' (2nd ed., 1968) vol. 2, p. 517

Answer me, you who believe that animals are only machines. Has nature arranged for this animal to have all the machinery of feelings only in order for it not to have any at all?

Believe, Animal, Order

I also know that we must cultivate our garden. For when man was put in the Garden of Eden, he was put there ut operaretur eum, to work; which proves that man was not born for rest.

Men, Garden, Eden

"Candide, Zadig, and Selected Stories".

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