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
beings cure diseases doctors human medicines men prescribe whom
Doctors are men who prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, in human beings of whom they know nothing.
certainty doubt mental pleasant ridiculous
Doubt is not a pleasant mental state, but certainty is a ridiculous one.
burning earth few men opens persecute preachers teach
What will the preachers say? ... to teach men not to persecute men: for, while a few sanctimonious humbugs are burning a few fanatics, the earth opens and swallows up all alike.
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.
appear cut extend few fortune happiness human means men miserable prefer ruin throats
Men appear to prefer to ruin one another's fortunes, and to cut each other's throats over a few miserable villages, than to extend the means of human happiness
born five god knowledge men nose
All men are born with a nose and five fingers, but no one is born with a knowledge of God.
bad false good healthy ideas men money notions uses
When men do not have healthy notions of the Divinity, false ideas supplant them, just as in bad times one uses counterfeit money when there is no good money.
religious men mad
They are mad men (Jews), but you should not burn them for that.
hate men objectivity
Men hate the individual whom they call avaricious only because nothing can be gained from him.
witty humorous men
Now, now my good man, this is no time for making enemies.
gun men law
Men must have somewhat altered the course of nature; for they were not born wolves, yet they have become wolves. God did not give them twenty-four-pounders or bayonets, yet they have made themselves bayonets and guns to destroy each other. In the same category I place not only bankruptcies, but the law which carries off the bankrupts’ effects, so as to defraud their creditors.
book taken men
I never approved either the errors of his book, or the trivial truths he so vigorously laid down. I have, however, stoutly taken his side when absurd men have condemned him for these same truths.
men boredom misery
Martin in particular concluded that man was born to live either in the convulsions of misery, or in the lethargy of boredom.
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.)