Voltaire Quotations
Voltaire
From Wikiquote What we find in books is like the fire in our hearths. We fetch it from our neighbor's, we kindle it at home, we communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all.François-Marie Arouet (November 21, 1694 – May 30, 1778), famous using his pen name Voltaire, was a French writer, deist and philosopher.
- See also: Candide.
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- La vertu s'avilit à se justifier.
- Virtue debases in justifying itself.
- Oedipe, act II, scene IV (1718).
- Virtue debases in justifying itself.
- C'est un poids bien pesant qu'un nom trop tôt fameux.
- Quite a heavy weight, a name too quickly famous.
- La Henriade, chant troisième, l.41 (1722).
- Quite a heavy weight, a name too quickly famous.
- L'homme est libre au moment qu'il veut l'être.
- Man is free at the instant he wants to be.
- Source Brutus, act II, scene I (1730).
- Man is free at the instant he wants to be.
- Les mortels sont égaux; ce n'est pas la naissance,
C'est la seule vertu qui fait la différence.
- All men are equal; it is not their birth,
But virtue itself that makes the difference.
- Eriphile, act II, scene I (1732); these lines were also used in Mahomet, act I, scene IV (1741).
- All men are equal; it is not their birth,
But virtue itself that makes the difference.
- On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire.
- One always speaks badly when we have nothing to say.
- "Commentaires sur Corneille," Oeuvres complètes de Voltaire (1827).
- One always speaks badly when we have nothing to say.
- Les anciens Romains élevaient des prodiges d'architecture pour faire combattre des bêtes.
- The ancient Romans built their greatest masterpieces of architecture for wild beasts to fight in.
- Letter addressed to "un premier commis" [name unknown] (1733-06-20), from Oeuvres Complètes de Voltaire: Correspondance [Garnier frères, Paris, 1880], vol. I, letter # 343 (p. 354).
- The ancient Romans built their greatest masterpieces of architecture for wild beasts to fight in.
- Ainsi presque tout est imitation. L’idée des Lettres persanes est prise de celle de l’Espion turc. Le Boiardo a imité le Pulci, l’Arioste a imité le Boiardo. Les esprits les plus originaux empruntent les uns des autres.
- Almost everything is imitation. The idea of The Persian Letters was taken from The Turkish Spy. Boiardo imitated Pulci, Ariosto imitated Boiardo. The most original writers borrowed from one another.
- "Lettre XII: sur M. Pope et quelques autres poètes fameux," Lettres philosophiques (1733).
- Almost everything is imitation. The idea of The Persian Letters was taken from The Turkish Spy. Boiardo imitated Pulci, Ariosto imitated Boiardo. The most original writers borrowed from one another.
- Il en est des livres comme du feu de nos foyers; on va prendre ce feu chez son voisin, on l’allume chez soi, on le communique à d’autres, et il appartient à tous.
- What we find in books is like the fire in our hearths. We fetch it from our neighbors, we kindle it at home, we communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all.
- "Lettre XII: sur M. Pope et quelques autres poètes fameux," Lettres philosophiques' (1733).
- What we find in books is like the fire in our hearths. We fetch it from our neighbors, we kindle it at home, we communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all.
- Où est l'amitié est la patrie.
- Where there is friendship, there is our natural soil.
- Letter to Nicolas-Claude Thieriot (1734).
- Where there is friendship, there is our natural soil.
- Le paradis terrestre est où je suis.
- Paradise on earth is where I am.
- Le Mondain (1736).
- Paradise on earth is where I am.
- Tout homme sensé, tout homme de bien, doit avoir la secte chrétienne en horreur.
- Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror.
- Examen important de milord Bolingbroke (1736): Conclusion
- Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror.
- Aime la vérité, mais pardonne à l'erreur.
- Love truth, but pardon error.
- "Deuxième discours: de la liberté," Sept Discours en Vers sur l'Homme (1738).
- Love truth, but pardon error.
- Usez, n’abusez point; le sage ainsi l’ordonne. Je fuis également Épictète et Pétrone. L’abstinence ou l’excès ne fit jamais d’heureux.
- Le secret d'ennuyer est celui de tout dire.
- The secret of being a bore is to tell everything.
- "Sixième discours: sur la nature de l'homme," Sept Discours en Vers sur l'Homme (1738).
- The secret of being a bore is to tell everything.
- Une seule partie de la physique occupe la vie de plusieurs hommes, et les laisse souvent mourir dans l'incertitude.
- A single part of physics occupies the lives of many men, and often leaves them dying in uncertainty.
- "A Madame la Marquise du Châtelet, Avant-Propos," Eléments de Philosophie de Newton (1738).
- A single part of physics occupies the lives of many men, and often leaves them dying in uncertainty.
- Ne peut-on pas remonter jusqu’à ces anciens scélérats, fondateurs illustres de la superstition et du fanatisme, qui, les premiers, ont pris le couteau sur l’autel pour faire des victimes de ceux qui refusaient d’etre leurs disciples?
- May we not return to those scoundrels of old, the illustrious founders of superstition and fanaticism, who first took the knife from the altar to make victims of those who refused to be their disciples?
- Letter to Frederick II of Prussia (December 1740), published in Oeuvres complètes de Voltaire, Vol. 7 (1869), edited by Georges Avenel, p. 105; as translated by Richard Aldington
- May we not return to those scoundrels of old, the illustrious founders of superstition and fanaticism, who first took the knife from the altar to make victims of those who refused to be their disciples?
- Mais qu’un marchand de chameaux excite une sédition dans sa bourgade; qu’associé à quelques malheureux coracites il leur persuade qu’il s’entretient avec l’ange Gabriel; qu’il se vante d’avoir été ravi au ciel, et d’y avoir reçu une partie de ce livre inintelligible qui fait frémir le sens commun à chaque page; que, pour faire respecter ce livre, il porte dans sa patrie le fer et la flamme; qu’il égorge les pères, qu’il ravisse les filles, qu’il donne aux vaincus le choix de sa religion ou de la mort, c’est assurément ce que nul homme ne peut excuser, à moins qu’il ne soit né Turc, et que la superstition n’étouffe en lui toute lumière naturelle.
- But that a camel-merchant should stir up insurrection in his village; that in league with some miserable followers he persuades them that he talks with the angel Gabriel; that he boasts of having been carried to heaven, where he received in part this unintelligible book, each page of which makes common sense shudder; that, to pay homage to this book, he delivers his country to iron and flame; that he cuts the throats of fathers and kidnaps daughters; that he gives to the defeated the choice of his religion or death: this is assuredly nothing any man can excuse, at least if he was not born a Turk, or if superstition has not extinguished all natural light in him.
- Referring to Muhammad, in a letter to Frederick II of Prussia (December 1740), published in Oeuvres complètes de Voltaire, Vol. 7 (1869), edited by Georges Avenel, p. 105.
- But that a camel-merchant should stir up insurrection in his village; that in league with some miserable followers he persuades them that he talks with the angel Gabriel; that he boasts of having been carried to heaven, where he received in part this unintelligible book, each page of which makes common sense shudder; that, to pay homage to this book, he delivers his country to iron and flame; that he cuts the throats of fathers and kidnaps daughters; that he gives to the defeated the choice of his religion or death: this is assuredly nothing any man can excuse, at least if he was not born a Turk, or if superstition has not extinguished all natural light in him.
- Qui sert bien son pays n'a pas besoin d'aïeux.
- Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.
- Mérope, act I, scene III (1743).
- Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.
- Les habiles tyrans ne sont jamais punis.
- Clever tyrants are never punished.
- Mérope, act V, scene V (1743).
- Clever tyrants are never punished.
- Il vaut mieux hasarder de sauver un coupable que de condamner un innocent.
- It is better to risk sparing a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one.
- Zadig (1747).
- It is better to risk sparing a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one.
- Qui plume a, guerre a.
- To hold a pen is to be at war.
- Letter to Jeanne-Grâce Bosc du Bouchet, comtesse d'Argental (1748-10-04)
- This remark also appears in a letter to Marie-Louise Denis (May 22, 1752): To hold a pen is to be at war. This world is one vast temple consecrated to discord [Qui plume a, guerre a. Ce monde est un vaste temple dédié à la discorde].
- To hold a pen is to be at war.
- C'est une des superstitions de l'esprit humain d'avoir imaginé que la virginité pouvait être une vertu.
- It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue.
- Notebooks (c.1735-c.1750)
- Note: This quotation and the three that follow directly below are from the so-called Leningrad Notebook, also known as Le Sottisier; it is one of several posthumously published notebooks of Voltaire.
- It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue.
- Prier Dieu c'est se flatter qu'avec des paroles on changera toute la nature.
- To pray to God is to flatter oneself that with words one can alter nature.
- Notebooks (c.1735-c.1750).
- To pray to God is to flatter oneself that with words one can alter nature.
- Nous cherchons tous le bonheur, mais sans savoir où, comme les ivrognes qui cherchent leur maison, sachant confusément qu'ils en ont une.
- We all look for happiness, but without knowing where to find it: like drunkards who look for their house, knowing dimly that they have one.
- Notebooks (c.1735-c.1750)
- A variation on this remark can be found in the same notebook: Men who look for happiness are like drunkards who cannot find their house but know that they have one [Les hommes qui cherchent le bonheur sont comme des ivrognes qui ne peuvent trouver leur maison, mais qui savent qu'ils en ont une].
- We all look for happiness, but without knowing where to find it: like drunkards who look for their house, knowing dimly that they have one.
- Si Dieu nous a faits à son image, nous le lui avons bien rendu.
- If God has made us in his image, we have returned him the favor.
- Notebooks (c.1735-c.1750).
- If God has made us in his image, we have returned him the favor.
- Il est dangereux d’avoir raison dans des choses où des hommes accrédités ont tort.
- It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong.
- "Catalogue pour la plupart des écrivains français qui ont paru dans Le Siècle de Louis XIV, pour servir à l'histoire littéraire de ce temps," Le Siècle de Louis XIV (1752)
- Note: The most frequently attributed variant of this quote is: It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
- It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong.
- Un ministre est excusable du mal qu’il fait, lorsque le gouvernail de l’État est forcé dans sa main par les tempêtes; mais dans le calme il est coupable de tout le bien qu’il ne fait pas.
- A minister of state is excusable for the harm he does when the helm of government has forced his hand in a storm; but in the calm he is guilty of all the good he does not do.
- Le Siècle de Louis XIV, ch. VI: "État de la France jusqu’à la mort du cardinal Mazarin en 1661" (1752) Unsourced paraphrase or variant translation: Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.
- A minister of state is excusable for the harm he does when the helm of government has forced his hand in a storm; but in the calm he is guilty of all the good he does not do.
- Elle [la nation juive] ose étaler une haine irréconciliable contre toutes les nations; elle se révolte contre tous ses maîtres. Toujours superstitieuse, toujours avide du bien d’autrui, toujours barbare, rampante dans le malheur, et insolente dans la prospérité.
- The Jewish nation dares to display an irreconcilable hatred toward all nations, and revolts against all masters; always superstitious, always greedy for the well-being enjoyed by others, always barbarous — cringing in misfortune and insolent in prosperity.
- Essai sur les Moeurs et l'Esprit des Nations (1753), Introduction, XLII: Des Juifs depuis Saül [1]
- The Jewish nation dares to display an irreconcilable hatred toward all nations, and revolts against all masters; always superstitious, always greedy for the well-being enjoyed by others, always barbarous — cringing in misfortune and insolent in prosperity.
- Un peuple qui trafique de ses enfants est encore plus condamnable que l’acheteur: ce négoce démontre notre supériorité; ce qui se donne un maître était né pour en avoir.
- A people that sells its own children is more condemnable than the buyer; this commerce demonstrates our superiority; he who gives himself a master was born to have one.
- Essai sur les Moeurs et l'Espit des Nations (1753), ch. CXCVII: Résumé de toute cette histoire jusqu’au temps où commence le beau siècle de Louis XIV [2]
- A people that sells its own children is more condemnable than the buyer; this commerce demonstrates our superiority; he who gives himself a master was born to have one.
- Ce corps qui s'appelait et qui s'appelle encore le saint empire romain n'était en aucune manière ni saint, ni romain, ni empire.
- This agglomeration which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.
- Essai sur l'histoire générale et sur les mœurs et l'esprit des nations, Chapter 70 (1756).
- This agglomeration which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.
- En aimant tant la gloire, comment pouvez-vous vous obstiner à un projet qui vous la fera perdre?
- While loving glory so much how can you persist in a plan which will cause you to lose it?
- Letters of Voltaire and Frederick the Great (New York: Brentano's, 1927), transl. Richard Aldington, letter 130 from Voltaire to Frederick II of Prussia, October 1757. [3]
- While loving glory so much how can you persist in a plan which will cause you to lose it?
- Les opinions ont plus causé de maux sur ce petit globe que la peste et les tremblements de terre.
- Il faut toujours en fait de nouvelles attendre le sacrement de la confirmation.
- Quand il s’agit d’argent, tout le monde est de la même religion.
- There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times.
- Quoi que vous fassiez, écrasez l'infâme, et aimez qui vous aime.
- La superstition est à la religion ce que l’astrologie est à l’astronomie, la fille très folle d’une mère très sage. Ces deux filles ont longtemps subjugué toute la terre.
- Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy, the mad daughter of a wise mother. These daughters have too long dominated the earth.
- "Whether it is useful to maintain the people in superstition," Treatise on Toleration (1763).
- Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy, the mad daughter of a wise mother. These daughters have too long dominated the earth.
- Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.
- Dialogue xiv, Le Chapon et la Poularde (l763); reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
- Il y a eu des gens qui ont dit autrefois: Vous croyez des choses incompréhensibles, contradictoires, impossibles, parce que nous vous l’avons ordonné; faites donc des choses injustes parce que nous vous l’ordonnons. Ces gens-là raisonnaient à merveille. Certainement qui est en droit de vous rendre absurde est en droit de vous rendre injuste. Si vous n’opposez point aux ordres de croire l’impossible l’intelligence que Dieu a mise dans votre esprit, vous ne devez point opposer aux ordres de malfaire la justice que Dieu a mise dans votre coeur. Une faculté de votre âme étant une fois tyrannisée, toutes les autres facultés doivent l’être également. Et c’est là ce qui a produit tous les crimes religieux dont la terre a été inondée.
- Formerly there were those who said: You believe things that are incomprehensible, inconsistent, impossible because we have commanded you to believe them; go then and do what is unjust because we command it. Such people show admirable reasoning. Truly, whoever is able to make you absurd is able to make you unjust. If the God-given understanding of your mind does not resist a demand to believe what is impossible, then you will not resist a demand to do wrong to that God-given sense of justice in your heart. As soon as one faculty of your soul has been dominated, other faculties will follow as well. And from this derives all those crimes of religion which have overrun the world.
- Questions sur les miracles (1765)
- Alternative condensed translation: "Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities."
- Formerly there were those who said: You believe things that are incomprehensible, inconsistent, impossible because we have commanded you to believe them; go then and do what is unjust because we command it. Such people show admirable reasoning. Truly, whoever is able to make you absurd is able to make you unjust. If the God-given understanding of your mind does not resist a demand to believe what is impossible, then you will not resist a demand to do wrong to that God-given sense of justice in your heart. As soon as one faculty of your soul has been dominated, other faculties will follow as well. And from this derives all those crimes of religion which have overrun the world.
- La nôtre [religion] est sans contredit la plus ridicule, la plus absurde, et la plus sanguinaire qui ait jamais infecté le monde.
Votre Majesté rendra un service éternel au genre humain en détruisant cette infâme superstition, je ne dis pas chez la canaille, qui n’est pas digne d’être éclairée, et à laquelle tous les jougs sont propres; je dis chez les honnêtes gens, chez les hommes qui pensent, chez ceux qui veulent penser... Je ne m’afflige de toucher à la mort que par mon profond regret de ne vous pas seconder dans cette noble entreprise, la plus belle et la plus respectable qui puisse signaler l’esprit humain.
- Ours is assuredly the most ridiculous, the most absurd and the most bloody religion which has ever infected this world.
Your Majesty will do the human race an eternal service by extirpating this infamous superstition, I do not say among the rabble, who are not worthy of being enlightened and who are apt for every yoke; I say among honest people, among men who think, among those who wish to think. ... My one regret in dying is that I cannot aid you in this noble enterprise, the finest and most respectable which the human mind can point out.
- Ours is assuredly the most ridiculous, the most absurd and the most bloody religion which has ever infected this world.
- Le doute n'est pas une condition agréable, mais la certitude est absurde.
- Où est le prince assez instruit pour savoir que depuis dix-sept cents ans la secte chrétienne n’a jamais fait que du mal?
- J'ai toujours fait une prière à Dieu, qui est fort courte. La voici: Mon Dieu, rendez nos ennemis bien ridicules! Dieu m'a exaucé.
- En effet, l'histoire n'est que le tableau des crimes et des malheurs.
- Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
- L'Ingénu, ch.10 (1767)
- Quoted in The End, part 13 of A Series of Unfortunate Events
- Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
- Un bon mot ne prouve rien.
- A witty saying proves nothing.
- Le dîner du comte de Boulainvilliers (1767): Deuxième Entretien
- A witty saying proves nothing.
- Il est bien malaisé (puisqu’il faut enfin m’expliquer) d’ôter à des insensés des chaînes qu’ils révèrent.
- It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.
- Le dîner du comte de Boulainvilliers (1767): Troisième Entretien
- It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.
- La vie est hérissée de ces épines, et je n'y sais d'autre remède que de cultiver son jardin.
- C’est une grande question parmi eux s’ils [les africains] sont descendus des singes ou si les singes sont venus d’eux. Nos sages ont dit que l’homme est l’image de Dieu: voilà une plaisante image de l’Être éternel qu’un nez noir épaté, avec peu ou point d’intelligence! Un temps viendra, sans doute, où ces animaux sauront bien cultiver la terre, l’embellir par des maisons et par des jardins, et connaître la route des astres il faut du temps pour tout.
- It is a serious question among them whether they [Africans] are descended from monkeys or whether the monkeys come from them. Our wise men have said that man was created in the image of God. Now here is a lovely image of the Divine Maker: a flat and black nose with little or hardly any intelligence. A time will doubtless come when these animals will know how to cultivate the land well, beautify their houses and gardens, and know the paths of the stars: one needs time for everything.
- Les Lettres d'Amabed (1769): Septième Lettre d'Amabed [6]
- It is a serious question among them whether they [Africans] are descended from monkeys or whether the monkeys come from them. Our wise men have said that man was created in the image of God. Now here is a lovely image of the Divine Maker: a flat and black nose with little or hardly any intelligence. A time will doubtless come when these animals will know how to cultivate the land well, beautify their houses and gardens, and know the paths of the stars: one needs time for everything.
- On dit que Dieu est toujours pour les gros bataillons.
- C'est une plaisante chose que la pensée dépende absolument de l'estomac, et malgré cela les meilleurs estomacs ne soient pas les meilleurs penseurs.
- Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer.
- "Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer." Mais toute la nature nous crie qu'il existe; qu'il y a une intelligence suprême, un pouvoir immense, un ordre admirable, et tout nous instruit de notre dépendance.
- "If God did not exist, he would have to be invented." But all nature cries aloud that he does exist: that there is a supreme intelligence, an immense power, an admirable order, and everything teaches us our own dependence on it.
- Voltaire quoting himself in his Letter to Prince Frederick William of Prussia (1770-11-28), translated by S.G. Tallentyre, Voltaire in His Letters, 1919.
- "If God did not exist, he would have to be invented." But all nature cries aloud that he does exist: that there is a supreme intelligence, an immense power, an admirable order, and everything teaches us our own dependence on it.
- Tous les autres peuples ont commis des crimes, les Juifs sont les seuls qui s'en soient vantés. Ils sont tous nés avec la rage du fanatisme dans le cœur, comme les Bretons et les Germains naissent avec des cheveux blonds. Je ne serais point étonné que cette nation ne fût un jour funeste au genre humain.
- All of the other people have committed crimes, the Jews are the only ones who have boasted about committing them. They are, all of them, born with raging fanaticism in their hearts, just as the Bretons and the Germans are born with blond hair. I would not be in the least bit surprised if these people would not some day become deadly to the human race.
- Lettres de Memmius a Cicéron (1771).
- All of the other people have committed crimes, the Jews are the only ones who have boasted about committing them. They are, all of them, born with raging fanaticism in their hearts, just as the Bretons and the Germans are born with blond hair. I would not be in the least bit surprised if these people would not some day become deadly to the human race.
- Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien.
- The best is the enemy of the good.
- "La Bégueule" (Contes, 1772)
- Variant translations:
The perfect is the enemy of the good. The better is the enemy of the good.
- Note: Voltaire cites this saying in his poem "La Bégueule" ("The prude woman") while ascribing it to an unnamed "Italian sage"; he also gives the saying (without attribution) in Italian (Il meglio è l'inimico del bene) in the article "Art Dramatique" ("Dramatic Art", 1770) in the Dictionnaire philosophique.
- The best is the enemy of the good.
- J'aime fort la vérité, mais je n'aime point du tout le martyre.
- Je meurs en adorant Dieu, en aimant mes amis, en ne haïssant pas mes ennemis et en détestant la superstition.
- Que les supplices des criminels soient utiles. Un homme pendu n’est bon à rien, et un homme condamné aux ouvrages publics sert encore la patrie, et est une leçon vivante.
- 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.
- "Civil and Ecclesiastical Laws," Dictionnaire philosophique (1785-1789)
- Note: The Dictionnaire philosophique was a posthumously published collection of articles combining the Dictionnaire philosophique portatif (published under various editions and titles from 1764 to 1777), the Questions sur l'Encyclopédie (published from 1770 to 1774), articles written for the Encyclopédie and the Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, the manuscript known as l'Opinion sur l'alphabet and a number of previously published miscellaneous articles.
- 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.
- Laissez lire, et laissez danser; ces deux amusements ne feront jamais de mal au monde.
- Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.
- "Liberty of the Press," Dictionnaire philosophique (1785-1789).
- Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.
- Toutes les sectes des philosophes ont échoué contre l’écueil du mal physique et moral. Il ne reste que d’avouer que Dieu ayant agi pour le mieux n’a pu agir mieux.
- All philosophical sects have run aground on the reef of moral and physical ill. It only remains for us to confess that God, having acted for the best, had not been able to do better.
- "Power, Omnipotence," Dictionnaire philosophique (1785-1789).
- All philosophical sects have run aground on the reef of moral and physical ill. It only remains for us to confess that God, having acted for the best, had not been able to do better.
- L'homme doit être content, dit-on; mais de quoi?
- Man ought to be content, it is said; but with what?
- Pensées, Remarques, et Observations de Voltaire; ouvrage posthume (1802)
- Note: This is from a volume of posthumously published "Thoughts, remarks and observations" believed to be by Voltaire. [7]
- Le public est une bête féroce: il faut l’enchaîner ou la fuir.
- I cannot imagine how the clockwork of the universe can exist without a clockmaker.
- As quoted in More Random Walks in Science : An Anthology (1982) by Robert L. Weber, p. 65.
Dictionnaire philosophique portatif (1764)
- La morale est la même chez tous les hommes, donc elle vient de Dieu; le culte est différent, donc il est l’ouvrage des hommes.
- Morality is everywhere the same for all men, therefore it comes from God; sects differ, therefore they are the work of men.
- "Atheist" (1764).
- Morality is everywhere the same for all men, therefore it comes from God; sects differ, therefore they are the work of men.
- Tel homme qui dans un excès de mélancolie se tue aujourd’hui aimerait à vivre s’il attendait huit jours.
- The man, who in a fit of melancholy, kills himself today, would have wished to live had he waited a week.
- "Cato" (1764).
- The man, who in a fit of melancholy, kills himself today, would have wished to live had he waited a week.
- Ne ressemblons-nous pas presque tous à ce vieux général de quatre-vingt-dix ans, qui, ayant rencontré de jeunes officiers qui faisaient un peu de désordre avec des filles, leur dit tout en colère: "Messieurs, est-ce là l’exemple que je vous donne?"
- Do not most of us resemble that old general of ninety who, having come upon some young officers debauching some girls, said to them angrily: "Gentlemen, is that the example I give you?"
- "Character" (1764).
- Do not most of us resemble that old general of ninety who, having come upon some young officers debauching some girls, said to them angrily: "Gentlemen, is that the example I give you?"
- On dit quelquefois: "Le sens commun est fort rare."
- People sometimes say: "Common sense is quite rare."
- "Common Sense" (1765)
- Note: The better known variant of this quote is "Common sense is not so common," said to be in the Philosophical Dictionary entry "Self-Love"; but it is not found there.
- People sometimes say: "Common sense is quite rare."
- Sa réputation s’affermira toujours, parce qu’on ne le lit guère.
- His reputation will go on increasing because scarcely anyone reads him.
- "Dante" (1765).
- His reputation will go on increasing because scarcely anyone reads him.
- Tous les hommes seraient donc nécessairement égaux, s’ils étaient sans besoins. La misère attachée à notre espèce subordonne un homme à un autre homme: ce n’est pas l’inégalité qui est un malheur réel, c’est la dépendance.
- All men would then be necessarily equal, if they were without needs. It is the poverty connected with our species which subordinates one man to another. It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.
- "Equality" (1764).
- All men would then be necessarily equal, if they were without needs. It is the poverty connected with our species which subordinates one man to another. It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.
- Telle est donc la condition humaine que souhaiter la grandeur de son pays, c’est souhaiter du mal à ses voisins.
- Such then is the human condition, that to wish greatness for one's country is to wish harm to one's neighbors.
- "Fatherland" (1764).
- Such then is the human condition, that to wish greatness for one's country is to wish harm to one's neighbors.
- Les hommes vertueux ont seuls des amis.
- Virtuous men alone possess friends.
- "Friendship" (1764).
- Virtuous men alone possess friends.
- Voulez-vous avoir de bonnes lois; brûlez les vôtres, et faites-en de nouvelles.
- If you want good laws, burn those you have and make new ones.
- "Laws" (1765).
- If you want good laws, burn those you have and make new ones.
- Le préjugé est une opinion sans jugement.
- Prejudice is an opinion without judgement.
- "Prejudices" (1764).
- Prejudice is an opinion without judgement.
- Qu’est-ce que la tolérance? c’est l’apanage de l’humanité. Nous sommes tous pétris de faiblesses et d’erreurs; pardonnons-nous réciproquement nos sottises, c’est la première loi de la nature.
- What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly — that is the first law of nature.
- "Tolerance" (1764).
- What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly — that is the first law of nature.
- Une compagnie de graves tyrans est inaccessible à toutes les séductions.
- A company of solemn tyrants is impervious to all seductions.
- "Tyranny" (1764).
- A company of solemn tyrants is impervious to all seductions.
Questions sur l'Encyclopédie (1770-1774)
- On en trouve [l'argent] toujours quand il s’agit d’aller faire tuer des hommes sur la frontière: il n’y en a plus quand il faut les sauver.
- Money is always to be found when men are to be sent to the frontiers to be destroyed: when the object is to preserve them, it is no longer so.
- "Charity" (1770).
- Money is always to be found when men are to be sent to the frontiers to be destroyed: when the object is to preserve them, it is no longer so.
- La vertu suppose la liberté, comme le transport d’un fardeau suppose la force active. Dans la contrainte point de vertu, et sans vertu point de religion. Rends-moi esclave, je n’en serai pas meilleur. Le souverain même n’a aucun droit d’employer la contrainte pour amener les hommes à la religion, qui suppose essentiellement choix et liberté. Ma pensée n’est pas plus soumise à l’autorité que la maladie ou la santé.
- Virtue supposes liberty, as the carrying of a burden supposes active force. Under coercion there is no virtue, and without virtue there is no religion. Make a slave of me, and I shall be no better for it. Even the sovereign has no right to use coercion to lead men to religion, which by its nature supposes choice and liberty. My thought is no more subject to authority than is sickness or health.
- "Canon Law: Ecclesiastical Ministry" (1771).
- Virtue supposes liberty, as the carrying of a burden supposes active force. Under coercion there is no virtue, and without virtue there is no religion. Make a slave of me, and I shall be no better for it. Even the sovereign has no right to use coercion to lead men to religion, which by its nature supposes choice and liberty. My thought is no more subject to authority than is sickness or health.
- Le divorce est probablement de la même date à peu près que le mariage. Je crois pourtant que le mariage est de quelques semaines plus ancien.
- Divorce is probably of nearly the same age as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient.
- "Divorce" (1771).
- Divorce is probably of nearly the same age as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient.
- Il faut vingt ans pour mener l’homme de l’état de plante où il est dans le ventre de sa mère, et de l’état de pur animal, qui est le partage de sa première enfance, jusqu’à celui où la maturité de la raison commence à poindre. Il a fallu trente siècles pour connaître un peu sa structure. Il faudrait l’éternité pour connaître quelque chose de son âme. Il ne faut qu’un instant pour le tuer.
- It requires twenty years for a man to rise from the vegetable state in which he is within his mother's womb, and from the pure animal state which is the lot of his early childhood, to the state when the maturity of reason begins to appear. It has required thirty centuries to learn a little about his structure. It would need eternity to learn something about his soul. It takes an instant to kill him.
- "Man: General Reflection on Man" (1771).
- It requires twenty years for a man to rise from the vegetable state in which he is within his mother's womb, and from the pure animal state which is the lot of his early childhood, to the state when the maturity of reason begins to appear. It has required thirty centuries to learn a little about his structure. It would need eternity to learn something about his soul. It takes an instant to kill him.
- En général, l’art du gouvernement consiste à prendre le plus d’argent qu’on peut à une grande partie des citoyens, pour le donner à une autre partie.
- In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
- "Money" (1770).
- In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
- Rien n’est si ordinaire que d’imiter ses ennemis, et d’employer leurs armes.
- Nothing is so common as to imitate one's enemies, and to use their weapons.
- "Oracles" (1770).
- Nothing is so common as to imitate one's enemies, and to use their weapons.
- L’Éternel a ses desseins de toute éternité. Si la prière est d’accord avec ses volontés immuables, il est très inutile de lui demander ce qu’il a résolu de faire. Si on le prie de faire le contraire de ce qu’il a résolu, c’est le prier d’être faible, léger, inconstant; c’est croire qu’il soit tel, c’est se moquer de lui. Ou vous lui demandez une chose juste; en ce cas il la doit, et elle se fera sans qu’on l’en prie; c’est même se défier de lui que lui faire instance ou la chose est injuste, et alors on l’outrage. Vous êtes digne ou indigne de la grâce que vous implorez: si digne, il le sait mieux que vous; si indigne, on commet un crime de plus en demandant ce qu’on ne mérite pas.
En un mot, nous ne faisons des prières à Dieu que parce que nous l’avons fait à notre image. Nous le traitons comme un bacha, comme un sultan qu’on peut irriter ou apaiser.
- The Eternal has his designs from all eternity. If prayer is in accord with his immutable wishes, it is quite useless to ask of him what he has resolved to do. If one prays to him to do the contrary of what he has resolved, it is praying that he be weak, frivolous, inconstant; it is believing that he is thus, it is to mock him. Either you ask him a just thing, in which case he must do it, the thing being done without your praying to him for it, and so to entreat him is then to distrust him; or the thing is unjust, and then you insult him. You are worthy or unworthy of the grace you implore: if worthy, he knows it better than you; if unworthy, you commit another crime by requesting what is undeserved.
In a word, we only pray to God because we have made him in our image. We treat him like a pasha, like a sultan whom one may provoke or appease.
- "Prayers" (1770).
- The Eternal has his designs from all eternity. If prayer is in accord with his immutable wishes, it is quite useless to ask of him what he has resolved to do. If one prays to him to do the contrary of what he has resolved, it is praying that he be weak, frivolous, inconstant; it is believing that he is thus, it is to mock him. Either you ask him a just thing, in which case he must do it, the thing being done without your praying to him for it, and so to entreat him is then to distrust him; or the thing is unjust, and then you insult him. You are worthy or unworthy of the grace you implore: if worthy, he knows it better than you; if unworthy, you commit another crime by requesting what is undeserved.
In a word, we only pray to God because we have made him in our image. We treat him like a pasha, like a sultan whom one may provoke or appease.
- Il est défendu de tuer; tout meurtrier est puni, à moins qu’il n’ait tué en grande compagnie, et au son des trompettes.
- It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.
- "Rights" (1771).
- It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.
Attributed
- The English have only one sauce, melted butter.
- Remark to Adam Smith, as attributed in P. J. O'Rourke, On The Wealth of Nations (2007), p. 184
- L'étymologie est une science où les voyelles ne font rien et les consonnes fort peu de chose.
- Etymology is a science in which vowels signify nothing at all, and consonants very little.
- Quote attributed by Max Müller (1823–1900), Lectures on the Science of Language (2003), Kessinger Publishing, p. 238.
- Etymology is a science in which vowels signify nothing at all, and consonants very little.
- L'adjectif est l'ennemi du substantif.
- Translation: The adjective is the enemy of the substantive.
- Variants: The adjective is the enemy of the noun.
- Quote attributed in Arthur Schopenhauer (translated by Mrs Rudolf Dircks), Essays of Schopenhauer (2004), Kessinger Publishing, p. 31.
Misattributed
- Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung.
- Source: "Nowadays what isn't worth saying is sung" (Aujourd'hui ce qui ne vaut pas la peine d'être dit, on le chante) — Pierre de Beaumarchais, Le Barbier de Séville (1775), act I, scene II.
- In George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman, act II, there is the following dialogue: TANNER: Let me remind you that Voltaire said that what was too silly to be said could be sung. STRAKER. It wasn't Voltaire: it was Bow Mar Shay. TANNER. I stand corrected: Beaumarchais of course.
- This quote has also been attributed to Joseph Addison. In The Spectator, 1711-03-21, Addison wrote of "an establish'd Rule, which is receiv'd as such to this Day, That nothing is capable of being well set to Musick, that is not Nonsense."
- Business is the salt of life.
- This is a proverb which can be found in Robert Codrington's "Youth's Behaviour, Second Part" (1672) and in Thomas Fuller's "Gnomologia" (1732).
- Defend me from my friends; I can defend myself from my enemies.
- Garantissez-moi de mes amis, écrivait Gourville proscrit et fugitif, je saurai me défendre de mes ennemis. ("Defend me from my friends," wrote Gourville, exile and fugitive, "I can defend myself from my enemies.") — Gabriel Sénac de Meilhan, Considérations sur l'esprit et les moeurs (1788): "De L'Amitié." Sénac de Meilhan was quoting Jean Hérault, sieur de Gourville (1625 - 1703).
- The remark has often been attributed to Voltaire and to Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars.
- God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere.
- For a discussion of this quotation, which is uncertain in origin but was quoted long before Voltaire, see the following: [10]
- God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.
- "Creator — A comedian whose audience is afraid to laugh." — H.L. Mencken, in A Book of Burlesques (1920), p. 203. and A Mencken Chrestomathy (1949), Ch. 30.
- I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
- Though these words are regularly attributed to Voltaire, they were first used by Evelyn Beatrice Hall, writing under the pseudonym of Stephen G Tallentyre in The Friends of Voltaire (1906), as a summation of Voltaire's beliefs on freedom of thought and expression.[11]
- Another possible source for the quote was proposed by Norbert Guterman, editor of "A Book of French Quotations," who noted a letter to M. le Riche (February 6, 1770) in which Voltaire is quoted as saying: "Monsieur l'abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write" ("Monsieur l'abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerai ma vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire"). This remark, however, does not appear in the letter.
- Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.
- Il est encore plus facile de juger de l'esprit d'un homme par ses questions que par ses réponses. (It is easier to judge the mind of a man by his questions rather than his answers) — Pierre-Marc-Gaston, duc de Lévis (1764-1830), Maximes et réflexions sur différents sujets de morale et de politique (Paris, 1808): Maxim xvii.
- No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.
- Stanisŀaw Jerzy Lec, More Unkempt Thoughts [Myśli nieuczesane nowe] (1964).
- Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense.
- Rien n'est plus contraire à la religion et au clergé qu'une tête sensée et raisonnable. — Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach, Théologie portative, ou Dictionnaire abrégé de la religion chrétienne (1768): Folie
About Voltaire
- Not a day goes by without our using the word optimism, coined by Voltaire against Leibniz, who had demonstrated (in spite of the Ecclesiastes and with the approval of the Church) that we live in the best of possible worlds. Voltaire, very reasonably, denied that exorbitant opinion... Leibniz could have replied that a world which has given us Voltaire has some right to be considered the best.
- Jorge Luis Borges, Obra completa, Vol. IV, p. 523.
External links
Wikipedia has an article about: Voltaire Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Voltaire Wikisource has original works written by or about: Voltaire- Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy on Voltaire
- Voltaire at Project Gutenberg
- Voltaire selections at bartleby.com
- Dictionnaire philosophique
- Selections and full text downloads at ebooktakeaway.com
- Voltaire's works at intratext.com
- VisitVoltaire.com
- "The Life of Voltaire" by Caspar J M Hewett
- A complete bibliography
- Bibliography
- Review of "Voltaire's Bastards" by John Ralston Saul
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