“There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times.”

“It requires twenty years for a man to rise from the vegetable state in which he is within his mother’s womb, and from the pure animal state which is the lot of his early childhood, to the state when the maturity of reason begins to appear. It has required thirty centuries to learn a little about his structure. It would need eternity to learn something about his soul. It takes an instant to kill him.”

“Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one.”

“All men are by nature free; you have therefore an undoubted liberty to depart whenever you please, but will have many and great difficulties to encounter in passing the frontiers.”

“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”

“To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth.”

“A man loved by a beautiful woman will always get out of trouble.”

“I hold firmly to my original views. After all I am a philosopher.”

“Secret griefs are more cruel than public calamities.”

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

“If God created us in his own image, we have more than reciprocated.”

“Originality is nothing by judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another.”

“What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other’s folly – that is the first law of nature.”

“I hate women because they always know where things are.”

“We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.”

“Only your friends steal your books.”

We hope you’ve enjoyed this large collection of Voltaire quotes! It’s amazing how his thoughts and ideas have remained fresh and relevant from the French Enlightenment to today.

What is the difference in being alone with another and being alone by one's self?

You should never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.

But no man would sacrifice his honor for the one he loves." "It is a thing hundreds of thousands of women have done.

Mrs LINDE: When you've sold yourself once for the sake of others, you don't do it second time.

NORA: I must stand on my own two feet if I'm to get to know myself and the world outside. That's why I can't stay here with you any longer.

Public opinion is an extremely mutable thing

The most dangerous enemy of the truth and freedom amongst us is the compact majority

Don't use that exotic word "ideals". We have a good enough native word: "lies".

With me you could have been another person.

It is the very mark of the spirit of rebellion to crave for happiness in this life

I don't imagine you will dispute the fact that at present the stupid people are in an absolutely overwhelming majority all the world over.

A thousand words leave not the same deep impression as does a single deed.

To live is to war with trolls.

You see, the point is that the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.

You have never loved me. You have only thought it pleasant to be in love with me.

You see, there are some people that one loves, and others that perhaps one would rather be with.

I must make up my mind which is right – society or I.

I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being, just as you are--or, at all events, that I must try and become one.

The strongest men are the most alone.

It’s a release to know that in spite of everything a premeditated act of courage is still possible.

To live is to war with trolls in heart and woul. To write is to sit in judgement on oneself.

Oh, yes--you can shout me down, I know! But you cannot answer me. The majority has might on its side--unfortunately; but right it has not.

A party is like a sausage machine, it grinds up all sorts of heads together into the same baloney ...

Rob the average man of his life-illusion, and you rob him of his happiness at the same stroke.

It's a liberation to know that an act of spontaneous courage is yet possible in this world. An act that has something of unconditional beauty.

Cage an eagle and it will bite at the wires, be they of iron or of gold.

There is so much falsehood both at home and at school. At home one must not speak, and at school we have to stand and tell lies to the children.

To live is - to war with trolls In the holds of the heart and mind

I am in revolt against the age-old lie that the majority is always right.

The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.

When I lost you, it was as if all the solid ground dissolved from under my feet. Look at me; I'm a half-drowned man now, hanging onto a wreck.

One's life is a heavy price to pay for being born.

I'll risk everything together with you.