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
country
Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.
country war pay
In this country we find it pays to shoot an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.
country war greatness
Such then is the human condition, that to wish greatness for one's country is to wish harm to one's neighbors.
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.
country time england
In this country [England] it is good to kill an admiral from time to time, to encourage the others. The reference is to Admiral John Byng, who was executed in 1757 for failing to prevent the French from taking Minorca.
country uprising ancestry
Whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors.
country heart spots
Our country is that spot to which our heart is bound.
country greatness men
So it is the human condition that to wish for the greatness of one's fatherland is to wish evil to one's neighbors. The citizen of the universe would be the man who wishes his country never to be either greater or smaller, richer or poorer.
country law numbers
A multitude of laws in a country is like a great number of physicians, a sign of weakness and malady.
country truth should
He who seeks truth should be of no country.
judge questions rather
Judge a person by their questions, rather than their answers.
french-writer judge man questions rather
Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.
religion subject
Such is the feebleness of humanity, such is its perversity, that doubtless it is better for it to be subject to all possible superstitions, as long as they are not murderous, than to live without religion.
condemned criminals good hanged man public serves works
Let the punishments of criminals be useful. A hanged man is good for nothing; a man condemned to public works still serves the country, and is a living lesson.