"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

Voltaire on freedom
14 fans of this quote   

"May God defend me from my friends; I can defend myself from my enemies."

Voltaire on friends and friendship
17 fans of this quote   

"Originality is nothing but judicious plagiarism."

Voltaire on originality
7 fans of this quote   

"Anyone who seeks to destroy the passions instead of controlling them is trying to play the angel."

Voltaire on passion
5 fans of this quote   

"The pursuit of what is true and the practice of what is good are the two most important objects of philosophy."

Voltaire on philosophers and philosophy   

"Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy; the mad daughter of a wise mother."

Voltaire on superstition
5 fans of this quote   

"Truth is a fruit which should not be plucked until it is ripe."

Voltaire on truth
3 fans of this quote   

"Time, which alone makes the reputation of men, ends by making their defects respectable."

Voltaire on vice   

"It is an infantile superstition of the human spirit that virginity would be thought a virtue and not the barrier that separates ignorance from knowledge."

Voltaire on virginity
7 fans of this quote   

"He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise."

Voltaire on wisdom
6 fans of this quote   

"Work keeps at bay, three great evils -- boredom, vice and need."

Voltaire on work
4 fans of this quote   

"Work banishes those three great evils: boredom, vice and poverty."

Voltaire on work
8 fans of this quote   

"Common sense is not so common."

Voltaire on common sense
10 fans of this quote   

"To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered."

Voltaire on courtesy
6 fans of this quote   

"We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies it is the first law of nature."

Voltaire on faults
10 fans of this quote   

"The only way to compel men to speak good of us is to do it."

Voltaire on character
10 fans of this quote   

"Doubt is not a pleasant mental state, but certainty is a ridiculous one."

Voltaire on certainty
5 fans of this quote   

"Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung."

Voltaire on song and singing
5 fans of this quote   

"Pleasure is the object, duty and the goal of all rational creatures."

Voltaire on pleasure
4 fans of this quote   

"Work is often the father of pleasure."

Voltaire on pleasure
3 fans of this quote   

"Verses which do not teach men new and moving truths do not deserve to be read."

Voltaire on poetry and poets
4 fans of this quote   

"Prejudices are what fools use for reason."

Voltaire on prejudice
8 fans of this quote   

"No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking."

Voltaire on problems
4 fans of this quote   

"The punishment of criminals should serve a purpose. When a man is hanged he is useless."

Voltaire on punishment
7 fans of this quote   

"I know of no great man except those who have rendered great services to the human race."

Voltaire on service
8 fans of this quote   

"It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love."

Voltaire on love
8 fans of this quote   

"Many are destined to reason wrongly; others, not to reason at all; and others, to persecute those who do reason."

Voltaire on reason
7 fans of this quote   

"Judge a person by their questions, rather than their answers."

Voltaire on questions
14 fans of this quote   

"There are two kinds of people: Those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group because there is less competition there."

Gandhi, Indira on competition
7 fans of this quote   

"Martyrdom does not end something, it only a beginning."

Gandhi, Indira on art   

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."

Einstein, Albert on common sense
5 fans of this quote   

"Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it."

Einstein, Albert on science
7 fans of this quote   

"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people."

Einstein, Albert on cooperation
6 fans of this quote   

"The ideas that have lighted my way and, time after time, have given me new courage to face life cheerfully have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth."

Einstein, Albert on courage
9 fans of this quote   

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery everyday. Never lose a holy curiosity."

Einstein, Albert on curiosity
11 fans of this quote   

"He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead; his eyes are closed."

Einstein, Albert on death
11 fans of this quote   

"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."

Einstein, Albert on atheism
10 fans of this quote   

"There is no logical way to the discovery of these elemental laws. There is only the way of intuition, which is helped by a feeling for the order lying behind the appearance."

Einstein, Albert on intuition
4 fans of this quote   

"God's finger touched him and he slept."

Tennyson, Lord Alfred on death
7 fans of this quote   

"Her eyes are homes of silent prayers."

Tennyson, Lord Alfred on eyes
8 fans of this quote