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 long dispute means that both parties are wrong.

Voltaire

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

Voltaire

Rest is a good thing, but boredom is its brother.

Voltaire

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

Voltaire

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

Voltaire

A witty saying proves nothing.

Voltaire

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

Voltaire

Man is free at the instant he wants to be.

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

Fools admire everything in an author of reputation.

Voltaire

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

Voltaire