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
boredom secret brevity
The secret of being a bore... is to tell everything.
math science imagination
There is an astonishing imagination, even in the science of mathematics. ... We repeat, there was far more imagination in the head of Archimedes than in that of Homer.
country greatness men
So it is the human condition that to wish for the greatness of one's fatherland is to wish evil to one's neighbors. The citizen of the universe would be the man who wishes his country never to be either greater or smaller, richer or poorer.
bears helping burden
Let us help one another to bear our burdens.
retirement age goes-on
I advise you to go on living solely to enrage those who are paying your annuities. It is the only pleasure I have left.
believe government democracy
Democracy is just a filler for textbooks! Do you actually believe that public opinion influences the government?
men perfection estimating
Whosoever does not know how to recognize the faults of great men is incapable of estimating their perfections.
mind faces stills
Minds differ still more than faces.
optimistic optimism madness
Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.
funny hilarious silly
The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by Infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity.
cutting land two
If you have two religions in your land, the two will cut each other’s throats; but if you have thirty religions, they will dwell in peace
wise pure do-the-best
We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.
inspirational wisdom educational
The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing.
forgiveness failure law
What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly - that is the first law of nature.