Voltaire, pseud. de Fran�ois-Marie Arouet
France
21 Nov 1694 // 30 May 1778
Philosopher / Writer / Historian
21 Nov 1694 // 30 May 1778
Philosopher / Writer / Historian
Quotes
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It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it
It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce
It is lamentable, that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind
It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere
It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong
It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one
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
Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?
Illusion is the first of all pleasures
I know many books which have bored their readers, but I know of none which has done real evil
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays
Essays