Quotes from Voltaire

All men are born with a nose and five fingers, but no one is born with a knowledge of God.

Our priests are not what a silly populace supposes; all their learning consists in our credulity.

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

A minister of state is excusable for the harm he does when the helm of government has forced his hand in a storm; but in the calm he is guilty of all the good he does not do.

Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient.

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

If one does not reflect, one thinks oneself master of everything; but when one does reflect, one realizes that one is master of nothing.

The more you know, the less sure you are.

There is an astonishing imagination, even in the science of mathematics. ... We repeat, there was far more imagination in the head of Archimedes than in that of Homer.

When truth is evident, it is impossible for parties and factions to rise. There never has been a dispute as to whether there is daylight at noon.

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

There is an astonishing imagination, even in the science of mathematics.

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

Present opportunities are not to be neglected; they rarely visit us twice.

You have no control over the hand that life deals you, but how you play that hand is entirely up to you.

Most of my life has been one tragedy after another, most of which hasn't happened.

The safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.

Wherever there is a settled society, religion is necessary; the laws cover manifest crimes, and religion covers secret crimes.

It is not known precisely where angels dwell whether in the air, the void, or the planets. It has not been God's pleasure that we should be informed of their abode.

It is the flash which appears, the thunderbolt will follow.

The infinitely little have a pride infinitely great.

The little may contrast with the great, in painting, but cannot be said to be contrary to it. Oppositions of colors contrast; but there are also colors contrary to each other, that is, which produce an ill effect because they shock the eye when brought very near it.

Society therefore is an ancient as the world.

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