Top 500 Voltaire Quotes (2026 Update)
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251. “Sometimes we are less unhappy in being deceived by those we love, than in being undeceived by them.”

— Voltaire

252. “She blushed and so did he. She greeted him in a faltering voice, and he spoke to her without knowing what he was saying.”

— Voltaire

253. “The discovery of what is true and the practice of that which is good are the two most important aims of philosophy.”

— Voltaire

254. “True power and true politeness are above vanity.”

— Voltaire

255. “Despite the enormous quantity of books, how few people read! And if one reads profitably, one would realize how much stupid stuff the vulgar herd is content to swallow every day.”

— Voltaire

Featured in: Book Quotes

256. “Froth at the top, dregs at bottom, but the middle excellent.”

— Voltaire

257. “The superstitious man is to the rogue what the slave is to the tyrant.”

— Voltaire

258. “Never having been able to succeed in the world, he took his revenge by speaking ill of it.”

— Voltaire

Featured in: Book Quotes

259. “Self love is the instrument of our preservation.”

— Voltaire

260. “Adultery is an evil only inasmuch as it is a theft; but we do not steal that which is given to us.”

— Voltaire

261. “The public is a ferocious beast; one must either chain it or flee from it.”

— Voltaire

262. “Paradise was made for tender hearts; hell, for loveless hearts.”

— Voltaire

263. “How I like the boldness of the English, how I like the people who say what they think!”

— Voltaire

264. “He who seeks truth should be of no country.”

— Voltaire

Featured in: Country Quotes

265. “If it’s too silly to be said, it can always be sung.”

— Voltaire

266. “It is far better to be silent than merely to increase the quantity of bad books.”

— Voltaire

Featured in: Book Quotes

267. “Every abuse ought to be reformed, unless the reform is more dangerous than the abuse itself.”

— Voltaire

268. “What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other’s folly – that is the first law of nature.”

— Voltaire

269. “Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient.”

— Voltaire

270. “Il faut cultiver son jardin.”

— Voltaire

271. “We cannot wish for that we know not.”

— Voltaire

272. “Faith consists in believing not what seems true, but what seems false to our understanding.”

— Voltaire

273. “There’s scarce a point whereon mankind agree – So well as in their boast of killing me; I boast of nothing, but when I’ve a mind – I think I can be even with mankind.”

— Voltaire

274. “The most genuine and efficacious charity is that which greases the paws of the priests; such charity covers a multitude of sins.”

— Voltaire

275. “In all the disputes which have excited Christians against each other, Rome has invariably decided in favor of that opinion which tended most towards the suppression of the human intellect and the annihilation of the reasoning powers.”

— Voltaire

276. “If you are attacked as regards your style, never reply; it is for your work alone to make answer.”

— Voltaire

277. “What would constitute useful history? That which should teach us our duties and our rights, without appearing to teach them.”

— Voltaire

278. “The man visited by ecstasies and visions, who takes dreams for realities is an enthusiast; the man who supports his madness with murder is a fanatic.”

— Voltaire

279. “Twenty-volume folios will never make a revolution. It’s the little pocket pamphlets that are to be feared.”

— Voltaire

280. “The Jews have always been waiting for a Messiah, but their Messiah is for them only, not for us, a Messiah ho will give them mastery over the Christians.”

— Voltaire

281. “All is a miracle. The stupendous order of nature, the revolution of a hundred millions of worlds around a million of stars, the activity of light, the life of all animals, all are grand and perpetual miracles.”

— Voltaire

282. “The adjective is the enemy of the noun. Variant: The adjective is the enemy of the substantive.”

— Voltaire

283. “The first clergyman was the first rascal who met the first fool.”

— Voltaire

Featured in: Firsts Quotes

284. “Whatever you do, trample down abuses, and love those who love you. Different translation: Whatever you do, crush the infamous thing superstition, and love those who love you.”

— Voltaire

285. “A man loved by a beautiful woman will always get out of trouble.”

— Voltaire

286. “The effervescence of this fresh wine reveals the true brilliance of the French people.”

— Voltaire

287. “It is not a mistress I have lost but half of myself, a soul for which my soul seems to have been made.”

— Voltaire

288. “If there were only one religion in England there would be danger of despotism, if there were two, they would cut each other’s throats, but there are thirty, and they live in peace and happiness.”

— Voltaire

289. “England has forty-two religions and only two sauces.”

— Voltaire

290. “To caress the serpent that devours us, until it has eaten away our heart.”

— Voltaire

291. “Let all the laws be clear, uniform and precise for interpreting laws is almost always to corrupt them.”

— Voltaire

292. “No opinion is worth burning your neighbor for.”

— Voltaire

293. “Now is not the time for making new enemies.”

— Voltaire

294. “Discord is the great ill of mankind; and tolerance is the only remedy for it.”

— Voltaire

295. “It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.”

— Voltaire

Featured in: Real Quotes

296. “A good imitation is the most perfect originality.”

— Voltaire

297. “Beware of the words “internal security,” for they are the eternal cry of the oppressor.”

— Voltaire

298. “One great use of words is to hide our thoughts.”

— Voltaire

299. “All the arts are brothers; each one is a light to the others.”

— Voltaire

300. “Once the people begin to reason, all is lost.”

— Voltaire