Home › By Author › Voltaire
Quotes by Voltaire
61 quotations from The Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations (1896), with the subject each one is filed under.
A small number of choice books are sufficient.— filed under Bores
Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause.— filed under Chance
The little may contrast with the great, in painting, but cannot be said to be contrary to it. Oppositions of colors contrast; but there are also colors contrary to each other, that is, which produce an ill effect because they shock the eye when brought very near it.— filed under Comparisons
I. 6. Qui n'est que juste est dur, qui n'est que sage est triste. He who is not just is severe, he who is not wise is sad.— filed under Comparisons
Du repos dans le crime! ah! qui peut s'en flatter. To be at peace in crime! ah, who can thus flatter himself.— filed under Crime
La crainte suit le crime, et c'est son châtiment. Fear follows crime and is its punishment.— filed under Crime
La mort sans phrase. Death without phrases. Alluding to the long addresses made by ROBESPIERRE and his men when voting. Le lâche fuit en vain; la mort vole à sa suite; C'est en la défiant que le brave l'évite. It is vain for the coward to flee; death follows close behind; it is only by defying it that the brave escape.— filed under Death
Il faut distinguer entre parler pour tromper et se taire pour être impénétrable. We must distinguish between speaking to deceive and being silent to be reserved.— filed under Deceit
Le corps d'un ennemi mort sent toujours bon. The body of a dead enemy always smells sweet. Attributed to VESPASIAN and CHARLES IX. of France. Les dons d'un ennemi leur semblaient trop à craindre. To them it seemed that the gifts of an enemy were to be dreaded.— filed under Enemy
The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error.— filed under Eternity
C'est un poids bien pesant qu'un nom trop tôt fameux. What a heavy burden is a name that has become too famous.— filed under Fame
Tel brille au second rang, qui s'eclipse au premier. He shines in the second rank, who is eclipsed in the first.— filed under Fame
Tes destins sont d'un homme, et tes vœux sont d'un dieu. Your destiny is that of a man, and your vows those of a god.— filed under Fate
L'exactitude est le sublime des sots. Exactness is the sublimity of fools. Attributed to FONTENELLE, who disclaimed it. Qui se croit sage, ô ciel! est un grand fou. He who thinks himself wise, O heavens! is a great fool.— filed under Folly
If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him.— filed under God
Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer. If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.— filed under God
L'oreille est le chemin du cœur. The ear is the avenue to the heart.— filed under Heart
World. Preface. Par. 9. History is little else than a picture of human crimes and misfortunes.— filed under History
How inexpressible is the meanness of being a hypocrite! how horrible is it to be a mischievous and malignant hypocrite. C.— filed under Ignorance
L'injustice à la fin produit l'indépendance. Injustice in the end produces indepen dence.— filed under Injustice
Ma vie est un combat. My life is a struggle.— filed under Life
Le superflu, chose très nécessaire. The superfluous, a very necessary thing.— filed under Necessity
In every author let us distinguish the man from his works.— filed under Occupations-Authorship
But nothing is more estimable than a physician who, having studied nature from his youth, knows the properties of the human body, the diseases which assail it, the remedies which will benefit it, exercises his art with caution, and pays equal attention to the rich and the poor.— filed under Occupations-Medicine
If the bookseller happens to desire a privilege for his merchandize, whether he is selling Rabelais or the Fathers of the Church, the magistrate grants the privilege without answering for the contents of the book.— filed under Occupations-Printing
L'occasion de faire du mal se trouve cent fois par jour, et celle de faire du bien une fois dans l'année. The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year.— filed under Opportunity
À tous les cœurs bien nés que la patrie est chère! How dear is the fatherland to all noble hearts!— filed under Patriotism
Call them if you please bookmakers, not authors; range them rather among secondhand dealers than plagiarists.— filed under Plagiarism
Pension. See Fuller's Worthies, by NUTTALL. Vol. II. P. 379. One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose.— filed under Poetry
In this country [England] it is found requisite, now and then, to put one admiral to death in order to spirit up the others to fight.— filed under Policy
Les préjugés, ami, sont les rois du vulgaire. Prejudices, friend, govern the vulgar crowd— filed under Prejudice
Qui n'a pas l'esprit de son âge, De son âge a tout le malheur. He who has not the spirit of his age, has all the misery of it.— filed under Progression
Song. Weakness on both sides is, as we know, the motto of all quarrels. S.— filed under Quotation
Chacun s'égare, et le moins imprudent, Est celui-là qui plus tôt se repent. Every one goes astray, but the least impru dent are they who repent the soonest.— filed under Repentance
Le premier qui fut roi, fut un soldat heureux; Qui sert bien son pays, n'a pas besoin d'aïeux. The first king was a successful soldier ; He who serves well his country has no need of ancestors.— filed under Royalty
This self-love is the instrument of our preservation; it resembles the provision for the perpetuity of mankind :-it is necessary, it is dear to us, it gives us pleasure, and we must conceal it.— filed under Self-Love
The king [Frederick] has sent me some of his dirty linen to wash; I will wash yours another time.— filed under Service
P. 407. Slavery is also as ancient as war, and war as human nature.— filed under Slavery
Tu dors, Brutus, et Rome est dans les fers. Thou sleepest, Brutus, and yet Rome is in chains.— filed under Sleep
Society therefore is as ancient as the world.— filed under Sydney Smith-Lady Holland's
What then do you call your soul? What idea have you of it? You cannot of yourselves, without revelation, admit the existence within you of anything but a power unknown to you of feeling and thinking.— filed under Sorrow
II. 6. Ils n'emploient les paroles que pour déguiser leurs pensées. They only employ words to disguise their thoughts.— filed under Speech
Men use thought only as authority for their injustice and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.— filed under Spirits
C'est l'éclair qui paraît, la foudre va partir. It is the flash which appears, the thunderbolt will follow.— filed under Storm
The flowery style is not unsuitable to public speeches or addresses, which amount only to compliment. The lighter beauties are in their place when there is nothing more solid to say; but the flowery style ought to be banished from a pleading, a sermon, or a didactic work.— filed under Longinus
It is said that God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions.— filed under Success
Tears are the silent language of grief.— filed under Temperance
There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times.— filed under Truth
HENRY IV. Les habiles tyrans ne sont jamais punis. Clever tyrants are never punished.— filed under Tyranny
U. Quand celui à qui l'on parle ne comprend pas et celui qui parle ne se comprend pas, c'est de la métaphysique. When he to whom one speaks does not understand, and he who speaks himself does not understand, this is Metaphysics.— filed under Tyranny
A company of tyrants is inaccessible to all seductions.— filed under Unity
Tyranny. The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice.— filed under Unity
On ne peut désirer ce qu'on ne connaît pas. We cannot wish for that we know not.— filed under Wishes
Germany. Woman and Lady. All the reasonings of men are not worth one sentiment of women.— filed under Woman
Very learned women are to be found, in the same manner as female warriors; but they are seldom or ever inventors.— filed under Woman
Tout est pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes. Everything is for the best in this best of possible worlds.— filed under Zeal
La satire ment sur les gens de lettres pendant leur vie, et l'éloge ment après leur mort. Satire lies about literary men while they live and eulogy lies about them when they die.— filed under Lying
La bouche obéit mal lorsque le cœur murmure. The mouth obeys poorly when the heart murmurs.— filed under Dissatisfaction
Le secret d'ennuyer est celui de tout dire. The secret of being tiresome is in telling everything.— filed under Motte
Tous les genres sont bons, hors le genre ennuyeux. All styles are good except the tiresome kind.— filed under Motte
La patrie est aux lieux où l'âme est enchainée. Our country is that spot to which our heart is bound. C.— filed under De Lannes