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
cat justice doe
The worthy administrators of justice are like a cat set to take care of a cheese, lest it should be gnawed by the mice. One bite of the cat does more damage to the cheese than twenty mice can do.
fool reputation admire
Fools admire everything in an author of reputation.
men judging taste
Men, generally going with the stream, seldom judge for themselves, and purity of taste is almost as rare as talent.
philosophy men speak
When one man speaks to another man who doesn't understand him, and when a man who's speaking no longer understands, it's metaphysics.
character thinking ideas
Our character is composed of our ideas and our feelings: and, since it has been proved that we give ourselves neither feelings nor ideas, our character does not depend on us. If it did depend on us, there is nobody who would not be perfect. If one does not reflect, one thinks oneself master of everything; but when one does reflect, one realizes that one is master of nothing
certain certainty
What can we say with certainty?
moral persons
I have no morals, yet I am a very moral person
cry internals security
Beware of the words "internal security," for they are the eternal cry of the oppressor.
genius most-amazing invention
The most amazing and effective inventions are not those which do most honour to the human genius.
inspirational men giving
The man who leaves money to charity in his will is only giving away what no longer belongs to him
truth affection martyrdom
I am very fond of truth, but not at all of martyrdom.
pain character animal
People must have renounced, it seems to me, all natural intelligence to dare to advance that animals are but animated machines.... It appears to me, besides, that such people can never have observed with attention the character of animals, not to have distinguished among them the different voices of need, of suffering, of joy, of pain, of love, of anger, and of all their affections. It would be very strange that they should express so well what they could not feel.
math imagination mathematics
There is an astonishing imagination, even in the science of mathematics.
may hallmark free-society
The hallmark of a free society is that I may totally disapprove of what you say, but I'll defend your right to say it until I die.