We should be considerate to the living; to the dead we owe only the truth.
On doit des égards aux vivants; on ne doit aux morts que la vérité.
Original text (French)
More quotes by Voltaire
There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times.
Satire lies about literary men while they live and eulogy lies about them when they die.
We have never intended to enlighten shoemakers and servants—this is up to apostles.
Attribution
Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Voltaire (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.