Voltaire quotes - page 12

The viceadmiral thought his son crazy; but soon discovered he was a Quaker. (Voltaire)
William inherited very large possessions, part of which consisted of crown debts, due to the vice-admiral for sums he had advanced for the sea-service. View quote
Voltaire
Quite a heavy weight, a name too quickly famous. View quote
Voltaire
It is sometimes said, common sense is very rare. View quote
Voltaire
To determine the true rulers of any society, all you must do is ask yourself this question: Who is it that I am not permitted to criticize? View quote
Voltaire
William Penn, when only fifteen years of age, chanced to meet a Quaker in Oxford, where he was then following his studies. This Quaker made a proselyte of him; and our young man, being naturally sprightly and eloquent, having a very winning aspect and engaging carriage, soon gained over some of his companions and intimates, and in a short time formed a society of young Quakers, who met at his house; so that at the age of sixteen he found himself at the head of a sect. Having left college, at his return home to the vice-admiral, his father, instead of kneeling to ask his blessing, as is the custom with the English, he went up to him with his hat on, and accosted him thus: "Friend, I am glad to see thee in good health." View quote
Voltaire
There is no God, but don't tell that to my servant, lest he murder me at night. View quote
Voltaire
To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth. View quote
Voltaire
The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination. View quote
Voltaire
Prejudices are what fools use for reason. View quote
Voltaire
Doctors are men who prescribe medicine of which they know little, to human beings of whom they know less, to cure diseases of which they know nothing. (Voltaire)
Every man is the creature of the age in which he lives very few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time. View quote
Voltaire
As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities. View quote
Voltaire
The art of government is to make two-thirds of a nation pay all it possibly can pay for the benefit of the other third. View quote
Voltaire
Doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous. View quote
Voltaire
Liberty of thought is the life of the soul. View quote
Voltaire
I hate women because they always know where things are. View quote
Voltaire
The biggest reward for a thing well done is to have done it. View quote
Voltaire
The true character of liberty is independence, maintained by force. View quote
Voltaire
War is the greatest of all crimes and yet there is no Aggressor who does not color his crime with the pretext of justice. View quote
Voltaire
Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road. (Voltaire)
To announce truths is an infallible receipt for being persecuted. View quote
Voltaire
Stand upright, speak thy thoughts, declare The truth thou hast, that all may share; Be bold, proclaim it everywhere: They only live who dare. View quote
Voltaire
A clergyman is one who feels himself called upon to live without working at the expense of the rascals who work to live. View quote
Voltaire
The atheists are for the most part impudent and misguided scholars who reason badly, and who, not being able to understand the Creation, the origin of evil, and other difficulties, have recourse to the hypothesis of the eternity of things and of inev. View quote
Voltaire