Voltaire Biography

Voltaire, Writer
Born asFrançois-Marie Arouet
Occup.Writer
FromFrance
BornNovember 21, 1694
Paris, Kingdom of France
DiedMay 30, 1778
Paris, Kingdom of France
Aged83 years
Voltaire, whose real name was François-Marie Arouet, was an 18th-century French author, philosopher, and also protestor. He was born upon November 21, 1694, in Paris, France, and also was elevated in a well-to-do household.

As a young man, Voltaire revealed a solid capacity for creating and also philosophy, and also he rapidly gained a track record as a great wit and also satirist. He ended up being involved in the literary and thoughtful circles of Paris, and his composing began to get larger acknowledgment.

In 1726, Voltaire was arrested and also sent to prison in the Bastille for his ridiculing writing, which was seen as insulting to the French federal government as well as the Catholic Church. After his launch, he went into expatriation in England, where he ended up being inspired by the English Enlightenment and also started to develop his own philosophical concepts.

Upon his return to France, Voltaire continued to compose and publish jobs that challenged the recognized order and also advocated for social and political reform. He wrote many essays, plays, and stories that critiqued the monarchy, the nobility, as well as the Catholic Church, and also he became a prominent voice in the motion for political and social adjustment.

Throughout his life, Voltaire remained dedicated to the principles of reason, freedom, as well as development. He was an ardent advocate for freedom of expression and also civil liberty, and also he spoke up versus bigotry, intolerance, and also oppression.

Voltaire's most renowned works consist of the novel "Candide," a ridiculing review of the positive outlook of the Knowledge, and the "Dictionnaire philosophique," a compendium of his philosophical and also political ideas. He was additionally a prolific dramatist, and his plays were done on stages throughout Europe.

In addition to his writing, Voltaire was likewise an active social and also political activist. He corresponded with most of the leading figures of the Enlightenment, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and also he functioned to advertise the reason for religious resistance and social justice.

Voltaire passed away on Might 30, 1778, at the age of 83. He is born in mind as one of the most influential thinkers of the Knowledge, as well as his ideas continue to inspire political and also social adjustment to today. His advocacy for factor, liberty, and progress has actually had an extensive effect on the modern world, and also he remains among the most crucial numbers in the history of ideology and political thought.

Our collection contains 131 quotes who is written / told by Voltaire, under the main topics: Motivational - Age - Faith - Parenting - Intelligence.

Related authors: Catherine the Great (Royalty), William Ellery Channing (Writer), Philo (Philosopher), Adam Smith (Economist), John Locke (Philosopher), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Philosopher), Giacomo Casanova (Celebrity), Evelyn Beatrice Hall (Author)

Voltaire Famous Works:
Source / external links:

131 Famous quotes by Voltaire

Small: Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need - Voltaire
"Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need"
Small: Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe - Voltaire
"Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe"
Small: Everythings fine today, that is our illusion - Voltaire
"Everything's fine today, that is our illusion"
Small: Every one goes astray, but the least imprudent are they who repent the soonest - Voltaire
"Every one goes astray, but the least imprudent are they who repent the soonest"
Small: Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do - Voltaire
"Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do"
Small: Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decid
"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"
Small: Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd - Voltaire
"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd"
Small: There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times - Voltaire
"There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times"
Small: The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of reason - Voltaire
"The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of reason"
Small: The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice - Voltaire
"The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice"
Small: The Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire - Voltaire
"The Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire"
Small: Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world - Voltaire
"Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world"
Small: The very impossibility in which I find myself to prove that God is not, discovers to me his existence - Voltai
"The very impossibility in which I find myself to prove that God is not, discovers to me his existence"
Small: The husband who decides to surprise his wife is often very much surprised himself - Voltaire
"The husband who decides to surprise his wife is often very much surprised himself"
Small: The flowery style is not unsuitable to public speeches or addresses, which amount only to compliment.
"The flowery style is not unsuitable to public speeches or addresses, which amount only to compliment. The lighter beauties are in their place when there is nothing more solid to say; but the flowery style ought to be banished from a pleading, a sermon, or a didactic work"
Small: It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue - Voltaire
"It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue"
Small: It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it - Voltaire
"It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it"
Small: We must cultivate our own garden. When man was put in the garden of Eden he was put there so that he should wo
"We must cultivate our own garden. When man was put in the garden of Eden he was put there so that he should work, which proves that man was not born to rest"
Small: This self-love is the instrument of our preservation it resembles the provision for the perpetuity of mankind:
"This self-love is the instrument of our preservation; it resembles the provision for the perpetuity of mankind: it is necessary, it is dear to us, it gives us pleasure, and we must conceal it"
Small: Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we
"Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us"
Small: Let us work without theorizing, tis the only way to make life endurable - Voltaire
"Let us work without theorizing, tis the only way to make life endurable"
Small: He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked - Voltaire
"He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked"
Small: God is a comedian, playing to an audience too afraid to laugh - Voltaire
"God is a comedian, playing to an audience too afraid to laugh"
Small: The true triumph of reason is that it enables us to get along with those who do not possess it - Voltaire
"The true triumph of reason is that it enables us to get along with those who do not possess it"
Small: One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose - Voltaire
"One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose"
Small: Of all religions, the Christian should of course inspire the most tolerance, but until now Christians have bee
"Of all religions, the Christian should of course inspire the most tolerance, but until now Christians have been the most intolerant of all men"
Small: Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense - Voltaire
"Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense"
Small: In every author let us distinguish the man from his works - Voltaire
"In every author let us distinguish the man from his works"
Small: Weakness on both sides is, as we know, the motto of all quarrels - Voltaire
"Weakness on both sides is, as we know, the motto of all quarrels"
Small: We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard - Voltaire
"We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard"
Small: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities - Voltaire
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"
Small: The first step, my son, which one makes in the world, is the one on which depends the rest of our days - Volta
"The first step, my son, which one makes in the world, is the one on which depends the rest of our days"
Small: The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease - Voltaire
"The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease"
Small: Love has features which pierce all hearts, he wears a bandage which conceals the faults of those beloved.
"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"
Small: Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes - Voltaire
"Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes"
Small: We cannot always oblige but we can always speak obligingly - Voltaire
"We cannot always oblige; but we can always speak obligingly"
Small: In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to g
"In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another"
Small: He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend provided, of course, he really is dead - Voltaire
"He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead"
Small: We cannot wish for that we know not - Voltaire
"We cannot wish for that we know not"
Small: Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another - Voltaire
"Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another"
Small: Do well and you will have no need for ancestors - Voltaire
"Do well and you will have no need for ancestors"
Small: Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the m
"Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient"
Small: Common sense is not so common - Voltaire
"Common sense is not so common"
Small: Clever tyrants are never punished - Voltaire
"Clever tyrants are never punished"
Small: Chance is a word void of sense nothing can exist without a cause - Voltaire
"Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause"
Small: By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property - Voltaire
"By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property"
Small: Business is the salt of life - Voltaire
"Business is the salt of life"
Small: Better is the enemy of good - Voltaire
"Better is the enemy of good"
Small: Behind every successful man stands a surprised mother-in-law - Voltaire
"Behind every successful man stands a surprised mother-in-law"
Small: As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities - Voltaire
"As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities"
Next page