“The secret of being a bore... is to tell everything.”
Author detail
François-Marie Arouet, better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and free trade. Voltaire was a prolific writer and produced works in almost every literary form including plays, poetry, novels, essays, historical and scientific works, more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken supporter of social reform, despite strict censorship laws and harsh penalties for those who broke them. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma and the French institutions of his day. Voltaire was one of several Enlightenment figures (along with Montesquieu, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau) whose works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American and French Revolutions. ([Source][1]) [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaire
Quotes
Showing 121-140 of 212
“The secret of being a bore... is to tell everything.”
“Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another.”
“Weakness on both sides is, as we know, the motto of all quarrels.”
“Froth at the top, dregs at bottom, but the middle excellent.”
“Our country is that spot to which our heart is bound.”
“It is vain for the coward to flee; death follows close behind; it is only by defying it that the brave escape.”
“What a heavy burden is a name that has become too famous.”
“Governments need to have both shepherds and butchers.”
“The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice.”
“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.”
“In the case of news, we should always wait for the sacrament of confirmation.”
“Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes.”
“It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.”
“Clever tyrants are never punished.”
“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...”
“Common sense is not so common.”
“The instruction we find in books is like fire. We fetch it from our neighbours, kindle it at home, communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all.”
“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 i...”
“It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one.”
“Let the punishments of criminals be useful. A hanged man is good for nothing; a man condemned to public works still serves the country, and is a living lesson.”