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
gambling probability depends
Almost all life depends on probabilities.
party science noon
When truth is evident, it is impossible for parties and factions to rise. There never has been a dispute as to whether there is daylight at noon.
jealous men jealous-love
When a man is in love, jealous, and just whipped by the Inquisition, he is no longer himself.
grief secret calamity
Secret griefs are more cruel than public calamities.
able swear
I swear that, not being able to be yours, I will belong to no one.
country fighting order
But in this country it is necessary, now and then, to put one admiral to death in order to inspire the others to fight.
real self wicked
The wicked can have only accomplices, the voluptuous have companions in debauchery, self-seekers have associates, the politic assemble the factions, the typical idler has connections, princes have courtiers. Only the virtuous have friends.
boredom way boring
The best way to be boring is to include everything.
history invention imaginative
History consists of a series of accumulated imaginative inventions.
art devil succeed
You must have the devil in you to succeed in the arts.
shoes history slippers
History is filled with the sound of silken slippers going downstairs and wooden shoes coming up.
book beer judgement
Prejudice is opinion without judgement.
book ambition beer
You despise books; you whose lives are absorbed in the vanities of ambition, the pursuit of pleasure or indolence; but remember that all the known world, excepting only savage nations, is governed by books.
stupidity doubt ridiculous
Doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous.