Quotes by Voltaire
One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose.
The ancient Romans built their greatest masterpieces of architecture, their amphitheaters, for wild beasts to fight in.
It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love.
Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes.
Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient.
We cannot wish for that we know not.
I know many books which have bored their readers, but I know of none which has done real evil.
He who is not just is severe, he who is not wise is sad.
Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.
The ancients recommended us to sacrifice to the Graces, but Milton sacrificed to the Devil.
Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.
It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.
Use, do not abuse... neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy.
Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?
Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.
We must cultivate our own garden. When man was put in the garden of Eden he was put there so that he should work, which proves that man was not born to rest.
Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.
The flowery style is not unsuitable to public speeches or addresses, which amount only to compliment. The lighter beauties are in their place when there is nothing more solid to say; but the flowery style ought to be banished from a pleading, a sermon, or a didactic work.
Ice-cream is exquisite - what a pity it isn't illegal.
Weakness on both sides is, as we know, the motto of all quarrels.
In every author let us distinguish the man from his works.
The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.
Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.
The secret of being a bore... is to tell everything.
Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another.
