Quote of the Day: Voltaire on Life & Wisdom

We often believe that not knowing the destination is the same as being lost, but uncertainty isn’t failure; it’s the raw material of a meaningful life. Against our obsession with perfect plans, Voltaire offers a steadier, more human truth: “I don’t know where I am going, but I am on my way.”

The first half of the line is a confession many of us resist. We want clarity before we commit: the five-year plan, the guaranteed outcome, the tidy explanation. Yet real progress, career pivots, creative work, healing, building a relationship, rarely begins with certainty. It begins with a willingness to move while the map is still being drawn.

The second half is the lever: “but I am on my way.” That’s agency. It shifts the focus from predicting the future to practicing forward motion. When you don’t know what’s next, don’t default to waiting, default to experimenting. Make a small bet, collect feedback, adjust. That is courage in its most practical form: action in the presence of doubt. And it’s also growth: letting the journey teach you what the destination should become.

Voltaire earned his authority the hard way, through essays, satire, and philosophical work that challenged dogma and argued for reason, freedom of thought, and social reform across 18th-century Europe. He understood that progress is rarely linear, but it is always made by people who keep moving.

Today, choose one area where you’ve been waiting for certainty, then take one concrete step: send the email, draft the first page, schedule the appointment, take the walk, start the savings transfer. You don’t need the whole plan; you just need to be on your way, go gently, and go forward.