Voltaire Quotes and Quotation

(1694-1778)

Sourced:

• "Common sense is not so common."
  • Source: Dictionnaire Philosophique (1764) "Self-Love"

• "I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O, Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it."
  • Source: letter to M. Damilaville (May 16, 1767)

• "I am very fond of truth, but not at all of martyrdom."
  • Source: letter to d'Alembert (August 20, 1770)

• "I die adoring God, loving my friends, not hating my enemies, and detesting superstition."
  • Source: written statement (February 28, 1778)

• "In this best of all possible worlds… everything is for the best."
  • Source: Candide (1759)
  • Alternative: "All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds."

• "It is better to risk sparing a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one."
  • Source: Zadig (1747)

• "Love truth, but pardon error."
  • Source: Sept Discours en Vers sur l'Homme (1738)

• "Paradise is where I am."
  • Source: Le Mondain (1736)

• "L'homme doit être heureux. Mais de quoi?"
  • Translation: "Man must be happy. But because of what?"

• "Où est l'amitié, là est la patrie"
  • Translation: "Where lies friendship, there it is one's homeland."

• "Quoi que vous fassiez, écrasez l'infâme, et aimez qui vous aime."
  • Translation: "Whatever you do, crush the infamous thing, and love those who love you."
  • Source: letter to d'Alembert (November 28, 1762)
  • Notes: this was written in reference to crushing superstition, and the words "écrasez l'infâme" ("Crush the Infamy") became a motto strongly identified with Voltaire.

• "Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer."
  • Translation: "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."
  • Source: Épître à l'Auteur du Livre des Trois Imposteurs (November 10, 1770)

• "There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times."
  • Source: letter to Cardinal de Bernis (April 23, 1761)

• "Virtue debases itself in justifying itself. "
  • Source: Oedipe (1718)

• "A witty saying proves nothing."

• "Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices." (generally dated 1767, possibly a speech[1])

• "Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung."

• "C'est une des superstitions de l'esprit humain d'avoir imaginé que la virginité pouvait être une vertu."
  • Translation: "It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue."

• "Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient."

• "God created sex. Priests created marriage."

• "God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh."

• "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."

• "Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers."

• "Originality is nothing but judicious plagiarism."

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

• "Neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire" (said of the )

• "Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy; the mad daughter of a wise mother."

• "The ancient Romans built their greatest masterpieces of architecture, their amphitheaters, for wild beasts to fight in."

• "The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the diseases."

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

• "Thought depends largely on the stomach. In spite of this, those with the best stomachs are not always the best thinkers."

• "History is the lie commonly agreed upon."

• "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
  • These words 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 attitude, based on statements in Essay on Tolerance where he asserts: "Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privelege to do so too", but some believe its ultimate origin may lie in Voltaire's letter to M. le Riche (February 6, 1770): "Monsieur l'abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write."

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