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
greatness evil boredom
Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.
country war greatness
Such then is the human condition, that to wish greatness for one's country is to wish harm to one's neighbors.
greatness companion inseparable
Exaggeration, the inseparable companion of greatness.
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.
powerful greatness understanding
True greatness consists in the use of a powerful understanding to enlighten oneself and others.
independent greatness men
Great men have all been formed either before academies or independent of them.
appearance belly female wide yellow
To a toad, what is beauty? A female with two pop-eyes, a wide mouth, yellow belly and spotted back
above age age-and-aging creature few ideas man raise themselves
Every man is the creature of the age in which he lives; very few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time.
criminals hanged man punishment serve
The punishment of criminals should serve a purpose. When a man is hanged he is useless.
beast chain either ferocious flee public
The public is a ferocious beast -- one must either chain it up or flee from it.
argument both motto sides weakness
Weakness on both sides is, the motto of all quarrels.
above almost creation doctors exertion great health joint men noble occupied preserve renew since skill
Men who are occupied in the restoration of health to other men, by the joint exertion of skill and humanity, are above all the great of the earth. They even partake of divinity, since to preserve and renew is almost as noble as to create.
console frivolous miseries nature
Nature has made us frivolous to console us for our miseries
duty goal pleasure rational
Pleasure is the object, duty and the goal of all rational creatures.