160 Voltaire Quotes: Timeless Wit & Wisdom

Voltaire Quotes on Wisdom

Candide, Zadig, and a lifetime of brilliant letters gave the world some of its sharpest wisdom. These voltaire quotes on wisdom gather his most enduring lines on work, virtue, and the examined life.

1. We must cultivate our garden. — Voltaire
2. Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need. — Voltaire
3. Let us work without theorizing; it is the only way to make life endurable. — Voltaire
4. The perfect is the enemy of the good. — Voltaire
5. All styles are good except the boring kind. — Voltaire
6. It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one. — Voltaire
7. The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year. — Voltaire
8. A witty saying proves nothing. — Voltaire
9. Dare to think for yourself. — Voltaire
10. I am very fond of truth, but not at all of martyrdom. — Voltaire
11. My life is a struggle. — Voltaire
12. Écrasez l’infâme! (Crush the infamous thing!) — Voltaire
13. If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him. — Voltaire
14. The universe embarrasses me, and I cannot dream that this watch exists and has no watchmaker. — Voltaire
15. I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: ‘O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.’ And God granted it. — Voltaire
16. Men are equal; it is not birth but virtue that makes the difference. — Voltaire
17. 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
18. All sects are different, because they come from men; morality is everywhere the same, because it comes from God. — Voltaire
19. The multitude of books is making us ignorant. — Voltaire
20. It is love; love, the comfort of the human species, the preserver of the universe, the soul of all sentient beings, love, tender love. — Voltaire
21. 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. — Voltaire
22. Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy: the mad daughter of a wise mother. — Voltaire
23. It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets. — Voltaire
24. We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies — it is the first law of nature. — Voltaire
25. What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. — Voltaire
26. If there were only one religion in England there would be danger of despotism; if there were two, they would cut each other’s throats; but there are thirty, and they live in peace and happiness. — Voltaire
27. When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion. — Voltaire
28. Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable. — Voltaire
29. Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. — Voltaire
30. Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination. — Voltaire
31. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us. — Voltaire
32. Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world. — Voltaire
33. Appreciation is a wonderful thing: it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. — Voltaire
34. The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. — Voltaire
35. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another. — Voltaire
36. Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe. — Voltaire
37. Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. — Voltaire
38. Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers. — Attributed to Voltaire
39. Common sense is not so common. — Attributed to Voltaire
40. To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth. — Attributed to Voltaire

Voltaire Quotes on Reason and Tolerance

No writer fought harder for reason and religious tolerance. These voltaire quotes champion doubt over dogma, humanity over fanaticism, and free thought over blind obedience.

1. Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd. — Attributed to Voltaire
2. It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong. — Attributed to Voltaire
3. Prejudices are what fools use for reason. — Attributed to Voltaire
4. No opinion is worth burning your neighbor for. — Attributed to Voltaire
5. Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too. — Attributed to Voltaire
6. Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it. — Attributed to Voltaire
7. If you want to converse with me, define your terms. — Attributed to Voltaire
8. It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere. — Attributed to Voltaire
9. The true triumph of reason is that it enables us to get along with those who do not possess it. — Attributed to Voltaire
10. Every man is the creature of the age in which he lives, and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time. — Attributed to Voltaire
11. Men argue. Nature acts. — Attributed to Voltaire
12. One great use of words is to hide our thoughts. — Attributed to Voltaire
13. The instruction we find in books is like fire: we fetch it from our neighbors, kindle it at home, communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all. — Attributed to Voltaire
14. He must be very ignorant, for he answers every question he is asked. — Attributed to Voltaire
15. Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. — Attributed to Voltaire
16. Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices. — Attributed to Voltaire
17. The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom. — Attributed to Voltaire
18. Men will always be mad, and those who think they can cure them are the maddest of all. — Attributed to Voltaire
19. Fear follows crime and is its punishment. — Attributed to Voltaire
20. Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause. — Attributed to Voltaire
21. 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. — Attributed to Voltaire
22. It is lamentable that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind. — Attributed to Voltaire
23. The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of reasoning. — Attributed to Voltaire
24. The pursuit of what is true and the practice of what is good are the two most important objects of philosophy. — Attributed to Voltaire
25. Atheism is the vice of a few intelligent people. — Attributed to Voltaire
26. The very impossibility in which I find myself to prove that God is not, discovers to me His existence. — Attributed to Voltaire
27. I die adoring God, loving my friends, not hating my enemies, and detesting superstition. — Attributed to Voltaire
28. Now is not the time to make new enemies. — Attributed to Voltaire
29. God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. — Attributed to Voltaire
30. The first clergyman was the first rascal who met the first fool. — Attributed to Voltaire
31. A clergyman is one who feels himself called upon to live without working at the expense of the rascals who work to live. — Attributed to Voltaire
32. The Pope is an idol whose hands are tied and whose feet are kissed. — Attributed to Voltaire
33. It is as impossible to translate poetry as it is to translate music. — Attributed to Voltaire
34. Superstition sets the whole world in flames; philosophy quenches them. — Attributed to Voltaire
35. History is the lie commonly agreed upon. — Attributed to Voltaire
36. War is the greatest of all crimes, yet there is no aggressor who does not color his crime with the pretext of justice. — Attributed to Voltaire
37. A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny. — Attributed to Voltaire
38. Slavery is as ancient as war, and war as human nature. — Attributed to Voltaire
39. The safest course is to do nothing against one’s conscience. — Attributed to Voltaire
40. It is one of the chief skills of the philosopher not to occupy himself with questions which do not concern him. — Attributed to Voltaire

Voltaire Quotes on Wit and Humor

Voltaire’s pen was both a weapon and a delight. These funny voltaire quotes show the Enlightenment’s greatest wit at his most playful — sharp, mischievous, and endlessly quotable.

1. The secret of being a bore is to tell everything. — Attributed to Voltaire
2. The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out. — Attributed to Voltaire
3. I advise you to go on living solely to enrage those who are paying your annuities. — Attributed to Voltaire
4. I was never ruined but twice: once when I lost a lawsuit, and once when I won one. — Attributed to Voltaire
5. Doctors are men who prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, in human beings of whom they know nothing. — Attributed to Voltaire
6. The composition of a tragedy requires testicles. — Attributed to Voltaire
7. Behind every successful man stands a surprised mother-in-law. — Attributed to Voltaire
8. The husband who decides to surprise his wife is often very much surprised himself. — Attributed to Voltaire
9. Marriage: the only adventure open to the cowardly. — Attributed to Voltaire
10. Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage; I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient. — Attributed to Voltaire
11. The earth is an insane asylum, to which the rest of the planets deport their lunatics. — Attributed to Voltaire
12. God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well. — Attributed to Voltaire
13. Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats. — Attributed to Voltaire
14. I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way. — Attributed to Voltaire
15. The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood. — Attributed to Voltaire
16. We never live; we are always in the expectation of living. — Attributed to Voltaire
17. Illusion is the first of all pleasures. — Attributed to Voltaire
18. It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love. — Attributed to Voltaire
19. What a heavy burden is a name that has become too famous. — Attributed to Voltaire
20. A long dispute means that both parties are wrong. — Attributed to Voltaire
21. The mirror is a worthless invention; the only way to truly see yourself is in the reflection of someone else’s eyes. — Attributed to Voltaire
22. Fools have a habit of believing that everything written by a famous author is admirable. — Attributed to Voltaire
23. He who thinks himself wise, O heavens, is a great fool. — Attributed to Voltaire
24. Anyone can be a barbarian; it requires a terrible effort to remain a civilized man. — Attributed to Voltaire
25. The privilege of the great is to see catastrophes from a terrace. — Attributed to Voltaire
26. The public is a ferocious beast: one must either chain it up or flee from it. — Attributed to Voltaire
27. Time, which alone makes the reputation of men, ends by making their defects respectable. — Attributed to Voltaire
28. Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time. — Attributed to Voltaire
29. What most persons consider as virtue after the age of forty is simply a loss of energy. — Attributed to Voltaire
30. The ancient Romans built their greatest masterpieces of architecture for wild beasts to fight in. — Attributed to Voltaire
31. Injustice in the end produces independence. — Attributed to Voltaire
32. Those who believe that they are exclusively in the right are generally those who achieve something. — Attributed to Voltaire
33. It is the characteristic of the most stringent censures to give credibility to the opinions they attack. — Attributed to Voltaire
34. To hold a pen is to be at war. — Attributed to Voltaire
35. The ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination. — Attributed to Voltaire
36. The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination. — Attributed to Voltaire
37. Beware of the words ‘internal security,’ for they are the eternal cry of the oppressor. — Attributed to Voltaire
38. Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. — Attributed to Voltaire
39. Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value: zero. — Attributed to Voltaire
40. Don’t think money does everything, or you are going to end up doing everything for money. — Attributed to Voltaire

Voltaire Quotes on Life and Human Nature

On love, friendship, books, and the great human comedy — these voltaire quotes on life capture his clear-eyed, unsentimental view of who we really are.

1. Each player must accept the cards life deals him; but once they are in hand, he alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game. — Attributed to Voltaire
2. The mouth obeys poorly when the heart murmurs. — Attributed to Voltaire
3. Tears are the silent language of grief. — Attributed to Voltaire
4. We are rarely proud when we are alone. — Attributed to Voltaire
5. All the reasons of men are not worth one sentiment of women. — Attributed to Voltaire
6. It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work; we must feel and be affected by it. — Attributed to Voltaire
7. Friendship is the marriage of the soul. — Attributed to Voltaire
8. Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy. — Attributed to Voltaire
9. The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing. — Attributed to Voltaire
10. Liberty of thought is the life of the soul. — Attributed to Voltaire
11. Man is born to live either in convulsions of misery or in the lethargy of boredom. — Voltaire
12. Anyone who seeks to destroy the passions instead of controlling them is trying to play the angel. — Attributed to Voltaire
13. He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise. — Attributed to Voltaire
14. The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice. — Attributed to Voltaire
15. Opinion has caused more ills than plague or earthquakes on this little globe of ours. — Attributed to Voltaire
16. Weakness on both sides is the motto of all quarrels. — Attributed to Voltaire
17. By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property. — Attributed to Voltaire
18. It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part. — Attributed to Voltaire
19. There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times. — Attributed to Voltaire
20. A multitude of laws in a country is like a great number of physicians, a sign of weakness and malady. — Attributed to Voltaire
21. It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue. — Attributed to Voltaire
22. Sensual pleasure passes and vanishes in the twinkling of an eye, but religion never leaves us. — Attributed to Voltaire
23. Work is often the father of pleasure. — Attributed to Voltaire
24. Business is the salt of life. — Attributed to Voltaire
25. All men would be tyrants if they could. — Attributed to Voltaire
26. No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking. — Attributed to Voltaire
27. Love has features which pierce all hearts; he wears a bandage which conceals the faults of those beloved. — Attributed to Voltaire
28. One day everything will be well — that is our hope; everything is well today — that is our illusion. — Attributed to Voltaire
29. There is a wide difference between speaking to deceive and being silent to be impenetrable. — Attributed to Voltaire
30. The infinitely little have a pride infinitely great. — Attributed to Voltaire
31. The history of the great events of this world is scarcely more than the history of crimes. — Voltaire
32. All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. — Voltaire
33. It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce. — Attributed to Voltaire
34. If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others? — Voltaire
35. God is always on the side of the big battalions. — Attributed to Voltaire
36. I have lived eighty years of life and I know nothing for it, but to be resigned and to tell myself that flies are born to be eaten by spiders and man to be devoured by sorrow. — Attributed to Voltaire
37. The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude. — Attributed to Voltaire
38. The superfluous is a very necessary thing. — Voltaire
39. The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by Infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity. — Attributed to Voltaire
40. It is the passion that is in a kiss that gives to it its sweetness; it is the affection in a kiss that sanctifies it. — Attributed to Voltaire

Editor’s Picks: The Very Best Voltaire Quotes

FAQs About Voltaire Quotes

What is Voltaire’s most famous quote?

“We must cultivate our garden” — the closing line of <em>Candide</em> (1759) — is his most quoted sentence worldwide. “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him” and “The perfect is the enemy of the good” are close runners-up.

Did Voltaire really say ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it’?

No — he never wrote or said it. The line is a paraphrase by Evelyn Beatrice Hall in her 1906 book <em>The Friends of Voltaire</em>, summarizing his attitude toward free speech. It is one of history’s most famous misattributions, which is why every quote in this collection is labeled honestly.

What did Voltaire write?

His best-known works are the satirical novella <em>Candide</em> (1759), <em>Zadig</em> (1747), the <em>Lettres philosophiques</em> (1734), the <em>Dictionnaire philosophique</em> (1764), and the <em>Traité sur la tolérance</em> (1763) — plus dozens of plays and more than 20,000 letters.

Why is Voltaire still important today?

Voltaire was the Enlightenment’s fiercest champion of free speech, religious tolerance, and reason over superstition. His campaigns against injustice — like his defense in the Calas affair — helped shape modern ideas of human rights and the separation of church and state.

More Voltaire Quotes to Explore

• wisdom quotes from history’s greatest minds
• Plato quotes on the examined life
• Aristotle quotes on virtue and reason
• Seneca quotes on stoic wisdom
• Marcus Aurelius quotes on resilience
• Epictetus quotes on what you can control
• Confucius quotes on character
• Socrates quotes on questioning everything
• Dalai Lama quotes on compassion
• Alan Watts quotes on the self
• Benjamin Franklin quotes on wit and thrift
• Read Voltaire’s biography on Wikipedia