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
cover covers manifest religion secret settled society wherever
Wherever there is a settled society, religion is necessary; the laws cover manifest crimes, and religion covers secret crimes.
charming french-writer secret telling tiresome
The secret of being tiresome is in telling everything.
sight earthquakes secret
It was decided by the university of Coimbre that the sight of several persons being slowly burned in great ceremony is an infallible secret for preventing earthquakes.
grief secret calamity
Secret griefs are more cruel than public calamities.
keeping-secrets use our-words
One great use of words is to hide our thoughts.
art secret art-is
Know that the secret of the arts is to correct nature.
secret age
A woman can keep one secret the secret of her age.
boredom secret brevity
The secret of being a bore... is to tell everything.
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.