Quotes by Voltaire

Prejudice is opinion without judgement.

Regimen is superior to medicine.

The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.

The multitude of books is making us ignorant.

The secret of being boring is to say everything.

There is a wide difference between speaking to deceive, and being silent to be impenetrable.

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

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

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

You despise books; you whose lives are absorbed in the vanities of ambition, the pursuit of pleasure or indolence; but remember that all the known world, excepting only savage nations, is governed by books.

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
(Attributed); originated in "The Friends of ", 1906, by S. G. Tallentyre (Evelyn Beatrice Hall)

Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need.
(Candide, 1759)

There are some that only employ words for the purpose of disguising their thoughts.
(Dialogue, XIV, "Le Chapon et la Poularde" ,1766)

The secret of being a bore is to tell everything.
Discours en vers sur l'homme, 1737

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 generale et sur les moeurs et l'espirit des nations, 1756, Chapter 70

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too.
Essay on Tolerance

The man who leaves money to charity in his will is only giving away what no longer belongs to him.
Letter (1769)

When we hear news we should always wait for the sacrament of confirmation.
(letter to Le Comte d'Argental, August 28, 1760)

Monsieur l'abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.
(letter to M. le Riche, February 6, 1770)