Quotes from Voltaire

An admiral should be put to death now and then to encourage the others.

All the persecutors declare against each other mortal war, while the philosopher, oppressed by them all, contents himself with pitying them.

It is said that God is always on the side of the big battalions.

The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom.

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

He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked.

Once your faith persuades you to believe what your intelligence declares absurd, beware, lest you likewise sacrifice your reason in the conduct of your life.

Pleasure has its time; so too, has wisdom. Make love in thy youth, and in old age attend to thy salvation.

We must distinguish between speaking to deceive and being silent to be reserved.

Luck is a word devoid of sense nothing can exist without a cause.

To make a vow for life is to make oneself a slave.

Whatever you do, crush the infamous thing, and love those who love you.

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

It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong.

The more a man knows, the less he talks.

The man who says to me, "Believe as I do, or God will damn you," will presently say, "Believe as I do, or I shall assassinate you."

All the reasonings of men are not worth one sentiment of women.

Men will always be mad, and those who think they can cure them are the maddest of all.

Time is man's most precious asset. All men neglect it; all regret the loss of it; nothing can be done without it.

History never repeats itself. Man always does.

Great men have all been formed either before academies or independent of them.

The punishment of criminals should be of use; when a man is hanged he is good for nothing.

Fanaticism, to which men are so much inclined, has always served not only to render them more brutalized but more wicked.

What will the preachers say? .. to teach men not to persecute men: for, while a few sanctimonious humbugs are burning a few fanatics, the earth opens and swallows up all alike.