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
cover covers manifest religion secret settled society wherever
Wherever there is a settled society, religion is necessary; the laws cover manifest crimes, and religion covers secret crimes.
charming french-writer secret telling tiresome
The secret of being tiresome is in telling everything.
sight earthquakes secret
It was decided by the university of Coimbre that the sight of several persons being slowly burned in great ceremony is an infallible secret for preventing earthquakes.
grief secret calamity
Secret griefs are more cruel than public calamities.
keeping-secrets use our-words
One great use of words is to hide our thoughts.
art secret art-is
Know that the secret of the arts is to correct nature.
secret age
A woman can keep one secret the secret of her age.
boredom secret brevity
The secret of being a bore... is to tell everything.
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.
country
Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.
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.
happy life religion
Religion was instituted to make us happy in this life and in the other. What must we do to be happy in the life to come? Be just.