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
inspirational life beauty
It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.
mother animal men
It requires twenty years for a man to rise from the vegetable state in which he is within his mother's womb, and from the pure animal state which is the lot of his early childhood, to the state when the maturity of reason begins to appear. It has required thirty centuries to learn a little about his structure. It would need eternity to learn something about his soul. It takes an instant to kill him.
mistake ocean men
The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error.
god military war
God is not on the side of the big battalions, but on the side of those who shoot best.
law tyrants support
Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them.
inspirational faith atheist
Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.
book beer ignorant
The multitude of books is making us ignorant.
god atheist religion
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.
funny appreciation perfection
By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property.
bravery coward vain
It is vain for the coward to flee; death follows close behind; it is only by defying it that the brave escape.
independence injustice produce
Injustice in the end produces independence.
funny witty smart
The superfluous, a very necessary thing.
real book bored
I know many books which have bored their readers, but I know of none which has done real evil.
believe divorce ancient
Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient.