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
stupidity doubt ridiculous
Doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous.
stupid heart love-life
I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our more stupid melancholy propensities, for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one’s very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?
funny stupid humor
To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered.
stupid book enormous-quantities
Despite the enormous quantity of books, how few people read! And if one reads profitably, one would realize how much stupid stuff the vulgar herd is content to swallow every day.
stupid said
Anything too stupid to be said is sung.
ignorance stupidity appearance
The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom.
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.
argument both motto sides weakness
Weakness on both sides is, the motto of all quarrels.
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