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
running cutting pirate
I should like to know which is worse: to be ravished a hundred times by pirates, and have a buttock cut off, and run the gauntlet of the Bulgarians, and be flogged and hanged in an auto-da-fe, and be dissected, and have to row in a galley -- in short, to undergo all the miseries we have each of us suffered -- or simply to sit here and do nothing?' That is a hard question,' said Candide.
gambling probability depends
Almost all life depends on probabilities.
party science noon
When truth is evident, it is impossible for parties and factions to rise. There never has been a dispute as to whether there is daylight at noon.
men good-man enemy
Now, now my good man, this is no time to be making enemies." (Voltaire on his deathbed in response to a priest asking him that he renounce Satan.)
art exercise physicians
But nothing is more estimable than a physician who, having studied nature from his youth, knows the properties of the human body, the diseases which assail it, the remedies which will benefit it, exercises his art with caution, and pays equal attention to the rich and the poor.
jealous men jealous-love
When a man is in love, jealous, and just whipped by the Inquisition, he is no longer himself.
grief secret calamity
Secret griefs are more cruel than public calamities.
able swear
I swear that, not being able to be yours, I will belong to no one.
country fighting order
But in this country it is necessary, now and then, to put one admiral to death in order to inspire the others to fight.
real self wicked
The wicked can have only accomplices, the voluptuous have companions in debauchery, self-seekers have associates, the politic assemble the factions, the typical idler has connections, princes have courtiers. Only the virtuous have friends.
boredom way boring
The best way to be boring is to include everything.
history invention imaginative
History consists of a series of accumulated imaginative inventions.
art devil succeed
You must have the devil in you to succeed in the arts.
shoes history slippers
History is filled with the sound of silken slippers going downstairs and wooden shoes coming up.