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
zero historical return
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value - zero.
work evil three
Our labour preserves us from three great evils -- weariness, vice, and want.
government giving opinion
It is the characteristic of the most stringent censorships that they give credibility to the opinions they attack.
tolerance mankind ill
Discord is the great ill of mankind; and tolerance is the only remedy for it.
inspirational witty humorous
A witty saying proves nothing.
knowing house looks
We all look for happiness, but without knowing where to find it: like drunkards who look for their house, knowing dimly that they have one
inspirational time philosophical
Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time.
garden
It is up to us to cultivate our garden.
beautiful heart kissing
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?
inspirational stars animal
All is a miracle. The stupendous order of nature, the revolution of a hundred millions of worlds around a million of stars, the activity of light, the life of all animals, all are grand and perpetual miracles.
men action virtue
Virtue between men is a commerce of good actions: he who has no part in this commerce must not be reckoned.
interesting should aim
One should always aim at being interesting, rather than exact.
evil world stride
Let us confess it: evil strides the world.
real real-friends soil
Where there is friendship, there is our natural soil.