" In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one part of the citizens to give to the other. "

Voltaire, The Portable Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" This is no time to make new enemies. "

Voltaire, when asked on his deathbed to forswear Satan. French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" When it is a question of money, everyone is of the same religion. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" The public is a ferocious beast — one must either chain it up or flee from it. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" This poem will never reach its destination. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" Anything too stupid to be said is sung. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" All is for the best in the best of all possible ways. "

Voltaire, Candide French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: “O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.” And God granted it. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" I have lost the half of myself

" Once the people begin to reason, all is lost. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" It is better to risk saving a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one. "

Voltaire, Zadig French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" There is an astonishing imagination, even in the science of mathematics… We repeat, there was far more imagination in the head of Archimedes than in that of Homer. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" Common sense is not so common. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" Animals have these advantages over man: they never hear the clock strike, they die without any idea of death, they have no theologians to instruct them, their last moments are not disturbed by unwelcome and unpleasant ceremonies, their funerals cost them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" All sects are different, because they come from men; morality is everywhere the same, because it comes from God. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" The multitude of books is making us ignorant. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman nor an Empire. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" May God defend me from my friends; I can defend myself from my enemies. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" The history of human opinion is scarcely anything more than the history of human errors. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" Verses which do not teach men new and moving truths do not deserve to be read. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" It is an infantile superstition of the human spirit that virginity would be thought a virtue and not the barrier that separates ignorance from knowledge "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" God is always on the side of the big battalions. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

" A witty saying proves nothing. "

Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)

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