Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung.
Voltaire
- Life
- 1694-1778
- Occupations
- philosopher, poet, historian
- Notable works
- Candide, Zadig or Destiny, Zaïre
Facts: Wikidata (CC0), as of 2026-07-09
Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.
Voltaire
A witty saying proves nothing.
Voltaire
Crush the infamous thing. Letter to d'Alembert, June 23, 1760.
Voltaire
God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.
Voltaire
History is little else than a picture of human crimes and misfortunes. L'Ing'nu. Chap. x. (1767.)
Voltaire
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.
Voltaire
Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
Voltaire
It is said that God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions.
Voltaire
Love truth, but pardon error.
Voltaire
Man is free at the instant he wants to be.
Voltaire
Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.
Voltaire
Now, now my good man, this is no time to be making enemies.
Voltaire
The best is the enemy of the good.
Voltaire
There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times.
Voltaire
The secret of being a bore is to tell everything.
Voltaire
The superfluous, a very necessary thing.
Voltaire
We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongues, at our peril, risk and hazard.
Voltaire
Whatever you do, crush the infamous thing, and love those who love you.
Voltaire