I have had some knowledge of love myself, this sovereign of hearts, this soul of souls; yet it never cost me more than a kiss and twenty kicks on the backside. But how could this beautiful cause produce in you so hideous an effect?

Voltaire

A witty saying proves nothing.

Voltaire

Do you think, that mankind always massacred one another as they do now? Were they always guilty of lies, fraud, treachery, ingratitude, inconstancy, envy, ambition, and cruelty?

Voltaire

A long dispute means that both parties are wrong.

Voltaire

Man is free at the instant he wants to be.

Voltaire

Fools admire everything in an author of reputation.

Voltaire

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

Voltaire

I conceive there can be no effect without a cause; everything is necessarily concatenated and arranged for the best.

Voltaire

To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.

Voltaire

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.

Voltaire

To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered.

Voltaire

Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.

Voltaire