Voltaire Quotes

1694–1778 France

François-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), most famous under his pen name Voltaire, was a French writer, deist and philosopher. Voltaire established himself as one of the leading writers of the enlightenment.

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Also known as: François Marie Arouet de Voltaire, François-Marie Arouet, Philosophical Dictionary

Random Voltaire quote

284 quotes

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

Misattributed

Alas! how can we always resist? The devil tempts us, and the flesh is weak.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

I do not know in the whole history of the world a hero, a worthy man, a prophet, a true Christian, who has not been the victim of the jealous, of a scamp, or of a sinister spirit.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

Poetry is the music of the soul.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

Prejudice is the reason of fools.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

Whoever is suspicious incites treason.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

Labor is often the father of pleasure.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

Moderation is the pleasure of the wise.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

None have lived without shedding tears.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

The adjective is the enemy of the substantive.

Disputed

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

Disputed

One hundred years from my day there will not be a Bible in the earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity seeker.

Misattributed Hefley What's so great about the Bible (1969)

The reasonable worship of a just God who punishes and rewards, would undoubtedly contribute to the happiness of men; but when that salutary knowledge of a just God is disfigured by absurd lies and dangerous superstitions, then the remedy turns to poison.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

Virtue: a word easy to pronounce, difficult to understand.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

If as much care were taken to perpetuate a race of fine men as is done to prevent the mixture of ignoble blood in horses and dogs, the genealogy of every one would be written on his face and displayed in his manners.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

Philosophers and men of letters have done more for mankind than Orpheus, Hercules, or Theseus; for it is more meritorious and more difficult to wean men from their prejudices than to civilize the barbarian : It is harder to correct than to instruct.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

The Devil and Love are but one.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

Business is the salt of life.

Misattributed

O Truth! pure and sacred virgin, when wilt thou be worthily revered? O Goddess who instructs us, why didst thou put thy palace in a well? When will our learned writers, alike free from bitterness and from flattery, faithfully teach us life?

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

It takes twenty years to bring man from the state of embryo, and from that of a mere animal, as he is in his first infancy, to the point when his reason begins to dawn. It has taken thirty centuries to know his structure; it would take eternity to know something of his soul: it takes but an instant to kill him.

Attributed A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Voltaire (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.