177 Inspiring Voltaire Quotes on Government and Personal Freedom

He dominated the world of ideas during the Age of Enlightenment and changed people’s way of thinking and behaving through his intellect and philosophy. Voltaire still remains of France’s greatest writers with strong belief in reason, tolerance, freedom of speech and liberal society.

François-Marie Arouet was born in Paris in 1964, and became known by his pen name, Voltaire. He was a historian, philosopher and French Enlightenment writer and started his career as an author through high school.

A man of reason, Voltaire despised fanaticism, superstition, idolatry and could not comprehend how men were capable of killing each other to defend a religious doctrine which was barely understood. His first angered the French authorities with political publication Letters on the English, and consistently came at odds with the Government and church. The writer spent fifteen years in exile and was twice imprisoned.    

Voltaire wrote more than 20,000 letters and 2,000 books and pamphlets during his lifetime. His most famous was the satirical novel Candide published in 1759. The novella of the human condition was a best-seller from the moment it appeared and was translated into every possible language. His other known works include tragic plays Zaire, Nanine, Mahomet, historical works Essay on the Customs and the Spirit of the Nations, The age of Louise XIV and philosophical compilation Micromegas and Plato’s Dream.

Voltaire passed away on May 30, 1778, leaving behind valuable lessons on condemning baseless practices and thinking outside the box. His intelligence and wit will always be commended along with his wise words on Government and freedom realised through the writers’ personal endeavours.

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

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2. The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor.

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

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4. Man is free at the instant he wants to be.

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5. Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.

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6. Love truth, but pardon error.

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7. I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.

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

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9. Despite the enormous quantity of books, how few people read! And if one reads profitably, one would realize how much stupid stuff the vulgar herd is content to swallow every day.

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10. Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.

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11. 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.

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

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

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14. 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.

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15. The biggest reward for a thing well done is to have done it.

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16. Faith consists in believing what reason cannot.

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17. Let us cultivate our garden.

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18. It is love; love, the comfort of the human species, the preserver of the universe, the soul of all sentient beings, love, tender love.

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19. It is said that God is always on the side of the big battalions.

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

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21. Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.

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22. Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time.

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23. Four thousand volumes of metaphysics will not teach us what the soul is.

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

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25. Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.

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26. We never live; we are always in the expectation of living.

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27. Our character is composed of our ideas and our feelings: and, since it has been proved that we give ourselves neither feelings nor ideas, our character does not depend on us. If it did depend on us, there is nobody who would not be perfect. If one does not reflect, one thinks oneself master of everything; but when one does reflect, one realizes that one is master of nothing.

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28. No opinion is worth burning your neighbor for.

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29. If we do not find anything very pleasant, at least we shall find something new.

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30. Sensual pleasure passes and vanishes, but the friendship between us, the mutual confidence, the delight of the heart, the enchantment of the soul, these things do not perish and can never be destroyed.

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31. Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause.

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32. My soul is the mirror of the universe, and my body is its frame.

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33. A witty saying proves nothing.

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34. The interest I have to believe a thing is no proof that such a thing exists.

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35. Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?

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

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

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

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39. The mouth obeys poorly when the heart murmurs.

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

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41. What is history? The lie that everyone agrees on…

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42. Tears are the silent language of grief.

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43. The mirror is a worthless invention. The only way to truly see yourself is in the reflection of someone else’s eyes.

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44. The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.

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

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46. Many are destined to reason wrongly; others, not to reason at all; and others, to persecute those who do reason.

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47. The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom.

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48. Being unable to make people more reasonable, I preferred to be happy away from them.

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49. All is for the best in the best of possible worlds.

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50. Theology is to religion what poisons are to food.

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

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52. Liberty of thought is the life of the soul.

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53. It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part.

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

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55. All the reasonings of men are not worth one sentiment of women.

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56. In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.

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57. Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them.

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58. 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.

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59. Love is the most powerful of all passions.

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60. All men are born with a nose and ten fingers, but no one was born with a knowledge of God.

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61. I loved him as we always love for the first time; with idolatry and wild passion.

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62. God is a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh.

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63. But for what purpose was the earth formed?” asked Candide. “To drive us mad,” replied Martin.

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64. The secret of being a bore is to tell everything.

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65. Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.

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66. Prejudices are what fools use for reason.

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67. Fools admire everything in an author of reputation.

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68. Doctors put drugs of which they know little into bodies of which they know less for diseases of which they know nothing at all.

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69. We must cultivate our own garden

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

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71. No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking.

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72. 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.

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

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74. Fools have a habit of believing that everything written by a famous author is admirable. For my part I read only to please myself and like only what suits my taste.

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

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76. Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

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77. Judge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers.

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78. God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere.

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79. Common sense is not so common.

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80. Is politics nothing other than the art of deliberately lying?

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81. I know many books which have bored their readers, but I know of none which has done real evil.

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

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

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84. Ice-cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn’t illegal.

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

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86. I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it.

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

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

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89. It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce.

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90. Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value – zero.

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91. The infinitely small have a pride infinitely great.

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92. The greatest consolation in life is to say what one thinks.

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93. Reading nurtures the soul, and an enlightened friend brings it solace.

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94. Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.

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95. If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?

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96. I hate women because they always know where things are.

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97. Men argue. Nature acts.

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98. It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.

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99. Marriage is the only adventure open to the cowardly.

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100. Now, now my good man, this is no time to be making enemies.

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101. We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies.

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102. The pursuit of pleasure must be the goal of every rational person.

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103. 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.

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104. If you want good laws, burn those you have and make new ones.

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105. Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.

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106. One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose.

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

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108. It is far better to be silent than merely to increase the quantity of bad books

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109. May God defend me from my friends: I can defend myself from my enemies.

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110. Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination.

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111. In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.

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112. Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too.

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113. A State can be no better than the citizens of which it is composed. Our labour now is not to mould States but make citizens.

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

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115. Our labour preserves us from three great evils — weariness, vice, and want.

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116. It is not more surprising to be born twice than once; everything in nature is resurrection.

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117. Give me the patience for the small things of life, courage for the great trials of life. Help me to do my best each day and then go to sleep knowing God is awake.

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118. He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked.

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119. Beware of the words ‘internal security,’ for they are the eternal cry of the oppressor.

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120. I would rather obey a fine lion, much stronger than myself, than two hundred rats of my own species.

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121. She blushed and so did he. She greeted him in a faltering voice, and he spoke to her without knowing what he was saying.

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122. Men are equal; it is not birth but virtue that makes the difference.

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

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

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125. History never repeats itself. Man always does.

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126. 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.

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127. Behind every successful man stands a surprised mother-in-law.

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

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129. Optimism,’ said Cacambo, ‘What is that?’ ‘Alas!’ replied Candide, ‘It is the obstinacy of maintaining that everything is best when it is worst.’

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130. I would rather obey a fine lion, much stronger than myself, than two hundred rats of my own species.

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131. Dare to think for yourself.

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132. 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.

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133. The best is the enemy of good.

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134. We are rarely proud when we are alone.

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135. Secret griefs are more cruel than public calamities.

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136. It is an infantile superstition of the human spirit that virginity would be thought a virtue and not the barrier that separates ignorance from knowledge.

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137. One always begins with the simple, then comes the complex, and by superior enlightenment one often reverts in the end to the simple. Such is the course of human intelligence.

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138. Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.

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139. If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.

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

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141. I don’t know where I am going, but I am on my way.

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

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

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144. To hold a pen is to be at war.

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145. Minds differ still more than faces.

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146. The discovery of what is true and the practice of that which is good are the two most important aims of philosophy.

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147. The right to free speech is more important than the content of the speech.

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148. When he to whom one speaks does not understand, and he who speaks himself does not understand, that is metaphysics.

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

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150. Injustice in the end produces independence.

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151. I’ve decided to be happy because it is good for my health.

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152. I have lived eighty years of life and know nothing for it, but to be resigned and tell myself that flies are born to be eaten by spiders and man to be devoured by sorrow.

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153. The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude.

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154. Of all religions, the Christian should of course inspire the most tolerance, but until now Christians have been the most intolerant of all men.

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155. History is the study of the world’s crime.

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156. Such then is the human condition, that to wish greatness for one’s country is to wish harm to one’s neighbors.

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157. Life is too short, time too valuable, to spend it on what is useless.

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158. I should like to lie at your feet and die in your arms.

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159. 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.

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160. 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.

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161. Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said.

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

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163. When it comes to money, everybody is of the same religion.

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164. It is as impossible to translate poetry as it is to translate music.

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165. The pursuit of what is true and the practice of what is good are the two most important objects of philosophy.

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166. I cannot imagine how the clockwork of the universe can exist without a clockmaker.

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167. The more you read without thinking, the more you think you know a lot but the more you meditate, the more you see that you know very little.

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

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169. I am the best-natured creature in the world, and yet I have already killed three, and of these three two were priests.

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170. A long dispute means that both parties are wrong.

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171. One great use of words is to hide our thoughts.

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

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173. Wherever my travels may lead, paradise is where I am.

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174. Martin in particular concluded that man was born to live either in the convulsions of misery, or in the lethargy of boredom.

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

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176. What can you say to a man who tells you he prefers obeying God rather than men, and that as a result he’s certain he’ll go to heaven if he cuts your throat?

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177. The more a man knows, the less he talks.

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