Voltaire

The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing.

There are some that only employ words for the purpose of disguising their thoughts.

The more a man knows, the less he talks.

Man is free at the instant he wants to be.

Life is thickly sown with thorns. I know no other remedy than to pass rapidly over them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes the greater is their power to harm us.

Love truth, but pardon error.

Stupid is the man who always remains the same.

Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time.

Now, now my good man, this is no time for making enemies.

Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung.

If there were no priests, people would be more religious.

Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one.

The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us

He who has not the spirit of this age, has all the misery of it.

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.

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another.

The husband who decides to surprise his wife is often very much surprised himself.

Ice-cream is exquisite - what a pity it isn't illegal.

Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.

No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.

The Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire.

The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.

Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion.

It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.

God is not on the side of the big battalions, but on the side of those who shoot best.

It is lamentable, that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind.

Tears are the silent language of grief.

If God created us in his own image, we have more than reciprocated.

Of all religions, the Christian should of course inspire the most tolerance, but until now Christians have been the most intolerant of all men.

Everything's fine today, that is our illusion.

Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes.

Man is free at the moment he wishes to be.

Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.

To hold a pen is to be at war.

The best is the enemy of the good.

History is only the register of crimes and misfortunes.

What a heavy burden is a name that has become too famous.

The ear is the avenue to the heart.

Clever tyrants are never punished.

Paradise was made for tender hearts; hell, for loveless hearts.

A witty saying proves nothing.

The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error.

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.

Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause.

What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly - that is the first law of nature.

It is vain for the coward to flee; death follows close behind; it is only by defying it that the brave escape.

It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce.

To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered.

The ancient Romans built their greatest masterpieces of architecture, their amphitheaters, for wild beasts to fight in.

I should like to lie at your feet and die in your arms.

Let us work without theorizing, tis the only way to make life endurable.

It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one.

God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth.

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.

The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.

Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.

Friendship is the marriage of the soul, and this marriage is liable to divorce.

Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them.

Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy the mad daughter of a wise mother. These daughters have too long dominated the earth.

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it.

I die adoring God, loving my friends, not hating my enemies, and detesting superstition.

We are rarely proud when we are alone.

Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time.

The superfluous, a very necessary thing.

Better is the enemy of good.

Common sense is not so common.

What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy.

If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.

One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose.

Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.

Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination.

Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.

We must cultivate our own garden. When man was put in the garden of Eden he was put there so that he should work, which proves that man was not born to rest.

It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.

Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.

To think too much is a disease.

Opinions have caused more ills than the plague or earthquakes on this little globe of ours.

The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.

Dare to think for yourself.

The most courageous decision that you can make each day is to be in a good mood.