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
french-writer judge man questions rather
Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.
chains fools free french-writer hard
It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere.
crime-and-criminals crimes history portrayal
History is no more than the portrayal of crimes and misfortunes
charlatans faith hundred regimen superior time
Regimen is superior to medicine, especially as, from time immemorial, out of every hundred physicians, ninety-eight are charlatans
borrowed french-writer judicious original writers
Originality is nothing by judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another.
good objects philosophers-and-philosophy practice pursuit true
The pursuit of what is true and the practice of what is good are the two most important objects of philosophy.
french-writer invent necessary
If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him.
except great human man rendered service services
I know of no great man except those who have rendered great services to the human race.
bad dependent digestion fate good nation prime
The fate of a nation is often dependent upon the good or bad digestion of a prime minister.
great life
The great consolation in life is to say what one thinks.
bores bores-and-boredom except good kinds
All kinds are good except the kind that bores you.
art citizens consists french-writer government money party possible taking
In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
success winning order
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.
atheist evil able
The atheists are for the most part imprudent and misguided scholars who reason badly who, not being able to understand the Creation, the origin of evil, and other difficulties, have recourse to the hypothesis the eternity of things and of inevitability.