"If the bookseller happens to desire a privilege for his merchandise, whether he is selling Rabelais or the Fathers of the Church, the magistrate grants the privilege without answering for the contents of the book."

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More quotes from: Voltaire

• "A company of tyrants is inaccessible to all seductions. "
• "A witty saying proves nothing. "
• "All men are born with a nose and ten fingers, but no one was born ..."
• "All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of ..."
• "All styles are good except the tiresome kind. "
• "All the reasonings of men are not worth one sentiment of women. "
• "An ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination. "
• "Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make ..."
• "Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung. "
• "Anything too stupid to be said is sung. "
• "Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us ..."
• "As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities. "
• "Behind every successful man stands a surprised mother-in-law. "
• "Better is the enemy of good. "
• "Business is the salt of life. "
• "But nothing is more estimable than a physician who, having studied nature from his youth, ..."
• "By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property. "
• "Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause. "
• "Clever tyrants are never punished. "
• "Common sense is not so common. "
• "Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage ..."
• "Do well and you will have no need for ancestors. "
• "Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd. "
• "Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do. "
• "Every one goes astray, but the least imprudent are they who repent the soonest. "
• "Everything is for the best in this best of possible worlds. "
• "Everything's fine today, that is our illusion. "
• "Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe. "
• "Fear follows crime and is its punishment. "
• "For take thy balance if thou be so wise And weigh the wind that under ..."
• "Friendship is the marriage of the soul, and this marriage is liable to divorce. "
• "Froth at the top, dregs at bottom, but the middle excellent. "
• "God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves ..."
• "God is a comedian, playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. "
• "He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is ..."
• "He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked. "
• "He shines in the second rank, who is eclipsed in the first. "
• "He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really ..."
• "He who has not the spirit of this age, has all the misery of it. "
• "He who is not just is severe, he who is not wise is sad. "
• "He who thinks himself wise, O heavens! is a great fool. "
• "History is only the register of crimes and misfortunes. "
• "How inexpressible is the meanness of being a hypocrite! how horrible is it to be ..."
• "How pleasant it is for a father to sit at his child's board. It is ..."
• "I advice you to go on living solely to enrage those who are paying you ..."
• "I am very fond of truth, but not at all of martyrdom. "
• "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the ..."
• "I hate women because they always know where things are. "
• "I have always made one prayer to God, a very short one. Here it is: ..."
• "I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "O Lord ..."
• "I know many books which have bored their readers, but I know of none which ..."
• "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the ..."
• "I Thy God am the Light and the Mind which were before substance was divided ..."
• "Ice-cream is exquisite - what a pity it isn't illegal. "
• "If God created us in his own image, we have more than reciprocated. "
• "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him. "
• "If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him. "
• "If we do not find anything pleasant, at least we shall find something new. "

• "Illusion is the first of all pleasures. "
• "In every author let us distinguish the man from his works. "
• "In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from ..."
• "In the country of Westphalia, in the castle of the most noble Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh, ..."
• "In this country [England] it is thought well to kill an admiral from time to ..."
• "Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes. "
• "Injustice in the end produces independence. "
• "Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others? "
• "It is an infantile superstition of the human spirit that virginity would be thought a ..."
• "It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one. "
• "It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong. "
• "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere. "
• "It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large ..."
• "It is lamentable, that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of ..."
• "It is new fancy rathert than taste which produces so many new fashions. "
• "It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce. "
• "It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We ..."
• "It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity ..."
• "It is said that the present is pregnant with the future. "
• "It is the flash which appears, the thunderbolt will follow. "
• "It is today, my dear, that I take a perilous leap. "
• "It is vain for the coward to flee; death follows close behind; it is only ..."
• "Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers. "
• "Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers. "
• "Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any ..."
• "Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass ..."
• "Love has features which pierce all hearts, he wears a bandage which conceals the faults ..."
• "Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination. "
• "Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. "
• "Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing ..."
• "Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal ..."
• "Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal ..."
• "My life is a struggle. "
• "Nature has always had more force than education. "
• "Neither holy, nor Roman, nor Empire. "
• "Never argue at the dinner table, for the one who is not hungry always gets ..."
• "No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking. "
• "No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible. "
• "Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense. "
• "Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them ..."
• "Now, now my good man, this is no time for making enemies. "
• "One great use of words is to hide our thoughts. "
• "One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words ..."
• "Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes. "
• "Originality is nothing by judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another. "
• "Our country is that spot to which our heart is bound. "
• "Paradise was made for tender hearts; hell, for loveless hearts. "
• "Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time. "
• "Prejudice, friend, govern the vulgar crowd. "
• "Satire lies about literary men while they live and eulogy lies about them when they ..."
• "Slavery is also as ancient as war, and was as human nature. "
• "Society therefore is an ancient as the world. "
• "Stand upright, speak thy thoughts, declare The truth thou hast, that all may share; Be ..."
• "Tears are the silent language of grief. "
• "'That is indisputable,' was the answer, 'but in this country it is a good thing ..."
• "The ancient Romans built their greatest masterpieces of architecture, their amphitheaters, for wild beasts to ..."
• "The ancients recommended us to sacrifice to the Graces, but Milton sacrificed to the Devil. "

• "The art of government is to make two-thirds of a nation pay all it possibly ..."
• "The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. "
• "The best is the enemy of the good. "
• "The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out. "
• "The ear is the avenue to the heart. "
• "The first step, my son, which one makes in the world, is the one on ..."
• "The flowery style is not unsuitable to public speeches or addresses, which amount only to ..."
• "The Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire. "
• "The ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination. "
• "The infinitely little have a pride infinitely great. "
• "The instruction we find in books is like fire. We fetch it from our neighbours, ..."
• "The little may contrast with the great, in painting, but cannot be said to be ..."
• "The mouth obeys poorly when the heart murmurs. "
• "The multitude of books is making us ignorant. "
• "The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing ..."
• "The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man ..."
• "The public is a ferocious beast; one must either chain it or flee from it. "
• "The safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can ..."
• "The secret of being a bore... is to tell everything. "
• "The secret of being tiresome is in telling everything. "
• "The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice. "
• "The superfluous, a very necessary thing. "
• "The very impossibility in which I find myself to prove that God is not, discovers ..."
• "The world embarrasses me, and I cannot dream that this watch exists and has no ..."
• "There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times. "
• "Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too. "
• "This self-love is the instrument of our preservation; it resembles the provision for the perpetuity ..."
• "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. "
• "Thou sleepest, Brutus, and yet Rome is in chains. "
• "Though one sits in meditation in a particular place, the Self in him can exercise ..."
• "To be at peace in crime! ah, who can thus flatter himself. "
• "To believe in God is impossible not to believe in Him is absurd. "
• "To hold a pen is to be at war. "
• "To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also ..."
• "To the wicked, everything serves as pretext. "
• "To them it seemed that the gifts of an enemy were to be dreaded. "
• "Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them. "
• "Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy. "
• "Very learned women are to be found, in the same manner as female warriors; but ..."
• "Very often, say what you will, a knave is only a fool. "
• "We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our ..."
• "We are rarely proud when we are alone. "
• "We cannot always oblige; but we can always speak obligingly. "
• "We cannot wish for that we know not. "
• "We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, ..."
• "We must distinguish between speaking to deceive and being silent to be reserved. "
• "Weakness on both sides is, as we know, the motto of all quarrels. "
• "What a heavy burden is a name that has become too famous. "
• "What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty ..."
• "What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss ..."
• "What then do you call your soul? What idea have you of it? You cannot ..."
• "When he to whom one speaks does not understand, and he who speaks himself does ..."
• "When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion. "
• "Whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors. "
• "You see many stars at night in the sky but find them not when the ..."
• "Your destiny is that of a man, and your vows those of a god. "
• "Your Majesty may think me an impatient sick man, and that the Turks are even ..."