Nov 21, 1694 - May 30, 1778
French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and free trade
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Fear follows crime, and is its punishment.
The world embarrasses me, and I cannot dream That this watch exists and has no watchmaker.
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.
If there had been a censorship of the press in Rome we should have had today neither Horace nor Juvenal, nor the philosophical writings of Cicero.
It is lamentable, that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind.
History is just a portrayal of crimes and misfortunes.
History is nothing but a pack of tricks that we play upon the dead.
Originality is nothing by judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another.
It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue.
Let us work without theorizing, 'Tis the only way to make life endurable.
Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy; the mad daughter of a wise mother.
Every abuse ought to be reformed, unless the reform is more dangerous than the abuse itself.
Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes.
When he to whom a person speaks does not understand, and he who speaks does not understand himself, that is metaphysics.
The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.
History is nothing but a pack of tricks that we play on the dead.
The fate of a nation has often depended on the food or bad digestion of a prime minister.
Whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors.
He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked.
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.
Love has features which pierce all hearts, he wears a bandage which conceals the faults of those beloved. He has wings, he comes quickly and flies away the same.
Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination.
I disagree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.
Love truth, but pardon error.
What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy.
'That is indisputable,' was the answer, 'but in this country it is a good thing to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.'
It is today, my dear, that I take a perilous leap.<br /> [Fr., C'est demain, me belle amie, que je fais le saut <br />perilleux.]
I have always made one prayer to God, a very short one. Here it <br />is: \'My God, make our enemies very ridiculous!\' God has granted <br />it to me.
The first step, my son, which one makes in the world, is the one <br />on which depends the rest of our days.<br /> [Fr., Le premier pas, mon fils, que l'on fait dans le monde,<br /> Est celui dont depend le reste de nos jours.]
