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
tyrants law sovereign
The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice.
years religion thank-god
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.
children heart religion
The Bible. That is what fools have written, what imbeciles commend, what rogues teach and young children are made to learn by heart.
suicide men today
The man who, in a fit of melancholy, kills himself today, would have wished to live had he waited a week.
faults language increase
Translations increase the faults of a work and spoil its beauties.
philosophy complaining always-complaining
Why, since we are always complaining of our ills, are we constantly employed in redoubling them?
health medicine doctors
I know of nothing more laughable than a doctor who does not die of old age.
sunday want christianity
If you want to kill Christianity you must abolish Sunday.
life men stories
You see, Mademoiselle, I have experience, I know the world. To pass the time, why don't you ask every passenger to tell you his life's story? And if there is a single one among them who has never cursed his life, who has not often told himself that he was the unhappiest of men, then you may throw me overboard, headfirst!
Every beauty, when out of it's place, is a beauty no longer.
healing garden eden
We must cultivate our own garden.
perfect enemy excellence
Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien. (The perfect is the enemy of the good.)
sleep care given
Providence has given us hope and sleep as a compensation for the many cares of life.
sacrifice grace devil
The ancients recommended us to sacrifice to the Graces, but Milton sacrificed to the Devil.