Voltaire Quotes

Voltaire is a French writer, historian and philosopher whose real name is François-Marie Arouet. He is mostly known by his pen name nom de plume Voltaire.

He is quite famous for his wit, criticism of Christianity and freedom of speech & religion. There is a lot of versatility in his writings. He has worked in all literary forms such as plays, poems, novels, essays and histories.

About Voltaire Parents & Earlier Life

Voltaire was born on 21 November 1694 in Paris, France. His father François Arouet was a lawyer & minor treasury official and his mother’s name was Marie Marguerite Daumard.

Voltaire did his studies at the Collège Louis-le-Grand where he studied subjects such as Latin, theology, & rhetoric and learned Italian, Spanish, & English languages.

But during his studies, he left the college in the middle because he wanted to become a writer while his father wanted to make him a lawyer.

He worked as an assistant to a notary and also wrote poetry. But after a while, his father sent him to college to study law. But Voltaire continued writing along with his studies.

Voltaire’s Troubles and Successes

Voltaire has faced many difficulties in his life. Because he used to criticize the government without fear. He write without fear on subjects like religious tolerance and freedom of thought.

For all this, Voltaire was also put in jail several times, which did not have a single window. And once he was even banned from coming to England for a short time.

Bastille Jail where Voltaire was imprisoned
Bastille Jail where Voltaire was imprisoned

But after a play named Oedipus at the Comédie-Française Theater in January 1717, his reputation increased significantly and financial success was also achieved.

Apart from this, George I, A king of Great Britain also praised Voltaire and honoured him with medals.

He wrote about 20,000 letters, 2,000 books and pamphlets in his lifetime. He is one of the first writers of that time to become commercially successful internationally.

Voltaire’s Death

Voltaire lived in different countries for many years in his life. Out of which he spent 20 years in Ferney, France. In February 1778, after about 25 years, he returned to Paris. Here he was welcomed as the returning hero.

Voltaire had little doubt that his death was near. So he kept writing a sentence which is “I die adoring God, loving my friends, not hating my enemies, and detesting superstition.”

He wrote this sentence on 28 February 1778 and after that, he died on 30 May 1778 at the age of 83 due to his ill health.

On 11 July 1791, the National Assembly of France called Voltaire the forerunner of the French Revolution.

Best Voltaire Quotes :

voltaire famous quote
Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers. – Voltaire Quotes

Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats. – Voltaire

Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities. – Voltaire

It is better to risk saving a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one. – Voltaire

Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too. – Voltaire

Faith consists in believing what reason cannot. – Voltaire

voltaire sayings
Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. – Voltaire Quotes

Minds differ still more than faces. – Voltaire

Animals have these advantages over man: they never hear the clock strike, they die without any idea of death, they have no theologians to instruct them, their last moments are not disturbed by unwelcome and unpleasant ceremonies, their funerals cost them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills. – Voltaire

Perfect is the enemy of good. – Voltaire

The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us. – Voltaire

The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing. – Voltaire

voltaire quotations
We never live; we are always in the expectation of living. – Voltaire Quotes

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

The secret of being a bore is to tell everything. – Voltaire

Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do. – Voltaire

The human brain is a complex organ with the wonderful power of enabling man to find reasons for continuing to believe whatever it is that he wants to believe. – Voltaire

Prejudices are what fools use for reason. – Voltaire

best voltaire quotes
The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor. – Voltaire Quotes

Don’t think money does everything or you are going to end up doing everything for money. – Voltaire

Discord is the great ill of mankind; and tolerance is the only remedy for it. – Voltaire

No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking. – Voltaire

Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts. – Voltaire

One day everything will be well, that is our hope. Everything’s fine today, that is our illusion. – Voltaire

voltaire quotes
Common sense is not so common. – Voltaire Quotes

The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude. – Voltaire

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

We all look for happiness, but without knowing where to find it: like drunkards who look for their house, knowing dimly that they have one. – Voltaire

To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid – one must also be polite. – Voltaire

voltaire quotes
One great use of words is to hide our thoughts. – Voltaire Quotes

Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity. – Voltaire

It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere. – Voltaire

We are rarely proud when we are alone. – Voltaire

If there’s life on other planets, then the earth is the Universe’s insane asylum. – Voltaire

voltaire quotes
History never repeats itself. Man always does. – Voltaire Quotes

Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her; but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game. – Voltaire

The more a man knows, the less he talks. – Voltaire

Let us work without reasoning, it is the only way to make life endurable. – Voltaire

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong. – Voltaire

voltaire quotes about madness
Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively. – Voltaire Quotes

Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one. – Voltaire

The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood. – Voltaire

Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one. – Voltaire

Fools have a habit of believing that everything written by a famous author is admirable. – Voltaire

Voltaire Quotes Freedom Of Speech :

Voltaire Quotes Freedom Of Speech
Dare to think for yourself. – Voltaire Quotes

It is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of the same opinion, is a monster. – Voltaire

Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it. – Voltaire

Liberty of thought is the life of the soul. – Voltaire

Voltaire Quotes on Religion & God :

Voltaire Quotes on God
God is a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh. – Voltaire Quotes

When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion. – Voltaire

If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. – Voltaire

God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well. – Voltaire

God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumferences nowhere. – Voltaire

If you have two religions in your land, the two will cut each other’s throats; but if you have thirty religions, they will dwell in peace. – Voltaire

Religion began when the first scoundrel met the first fool. – Voltaire

Voltaire Love Quotes :

Voltaire Love Quotes
Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination. – Voltaire Quotes

Love truth, but pardon error. – Voltaire

When a man is in love, jealous, and just whipped by the Inquisition, he is no longer himself. – Voltaire

Only love is the comfort of the human species, the preserver of the universe, the soul of all sentient beings. – Voltaire

Whatever you do, crush the infamous thing, and love those who love you. – Voltaire

Also See: Fyodor Dostoevsky Quotes On Love

Voltaire Quotes On Freedom :

Man is free at the instant he wants to be. – Voltaire

It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence. – Voltaire

Injustice in the end produces independence. – Voltaire

Funny Voltaire Quotes :

Funny Voltaire Quotes
What is history? The lie that everyone agrees on… – Voltaire Quotes

Opinions have caused more ills than the plague or earthquakes on this little globe of ours.  – Voltaire

Men will always be mad, and those who think they can cure them are the maddest of all. – Voltaire

The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by Infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity. – Voltaire