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
play theatre way
The only way to see the value of a play is to see it acted.
play imagination london
Shakespeare is a drunken savage with some imagination whose plays please only in London and Canada.
sports reality play
The question of good and evil remains in irremediable chaos for those who seek to fathom it in reality. It is mere mental sport to the disputants, who are captives that play with their chains.
book men play
It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part.
lying play packs
History is a pack of lies we play on the dead.
play history tricks
History is nothing but a pack of tricks that we play upon the dead.
life play hands
You have no control over the hand that life deals you, but how you play that hand is entirely up to you.
angel passion play
Anyone who seeks to destroy the passions instead of controlling them is trying to play the angel.
art citizens consists french-writer government money party possible taking
In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
best boring french-writer leave
The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out.
bad dependent digestion fate good nation prime
The fate of a nation is often dependent upon the good or bad digestion of a prime minister.
advice philosophy sets
Superstition sets the whole world in flames; philosophy quenches them
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.