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
men use criminals
The punishment of criminals should be of use; when a man is hanged he is good for nothing.
philosophy men desire
The necessity of saying something, the embarrassment produced by the consciousness of having nothing to say, and the desire to exhibit ability, are three things sufficient to render even a great man ridiculous.
tolerance humanity pardon-me
What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity.
said should being-true
Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said.
pleasure
There is a pleasure in not being pleased.
fake-people people fake
Better is the enemy of good.
pride proud
We are rarely proud when we are alone.
liars silly men
Do you think... that men have always massacred each other, as they do today? Have they always been liars, cheats, traitors, brigands, weak, flighty, cowardly, envious, gluttonous, drunken, grasping, and vicious, bloody, backbiting, debauched, fanatical, hypocritical, and silly?
wise fierce severe
He who is not just is severe, he who is not wise is sad.
motivational giving answers
It is not the answers you give, but the questions you ask.
names mad age
If you wish to obtain a great name or to found an establishment, be completely mad; but be sure that your madness corresponds with the turn and temper of your age.
giving letters woe
Woe to the makers of literal translations, who by rendering every word weaken the meaning! It is indeed by so doing that we can say the letter kills and the spirit gives life.
littles revolution twenties
Twenty-volume folios will never make a revolution. It’s the little pocket pamphlets that are to be feared.
art brother light
We know that all the arts are brothers, that each of them illuminates another, and that a universal light results.