Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet, 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...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionHistorian
Date of Birth21 November 1694
CityParis, France
CountryFrance
heart wicked finest
God prefers bad verses recited with a pure heart to the finest verses chanted by the wicked.
equality mask equal
Mortals are equal; their mask differs.
matter privilege taxation
In the matter of taxation, every privilege is an injustice.
father book church
If the bookseller happens to desire a privilege for his merchandise, whether he is selling Rabelais or the Fathers of the Church, the magistrate grants the privilege without answering for the contents of the book. - Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire
important speech free-speech
The right to free speech is more important than the content of the speech.
men use speech
Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts. Ils ne se servent de la pensée que pour autoriser leurs injustices, et emploient les paroles que pour déguiser leurs pensées.
running truth risk
The monster, fanaticism, still exists, and whoever seeks after truth will run the risk of being persecuted.
reading crawling feels
One feels like crawling on all fours after reading your work.
inspire tolerance doubt
Of all religions, Christianity is without a doubt the one that should inspire tolerance most
men portions
Happiness is not the portion of man.
firsts duty slander
A historian has many duties... the first is not to slander; the second is not to bore
grief men ideas
What is called happiness is an abstract idea, composed of various ideas of pleasure; for he who has but a moment of pleasure is not a happy man, in like manner that a moment of grief constitutes not a miserable one.
nature truth being-true
What is not in nature can never be true.
speak
One always speaks badly when one has nothing to say