Voltaire

Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time.

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: “O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.” And God granted it.

The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of reason.

The little may contrast with the great, in painting, but cannot be said to be contrary to it. Oppositions of colors contrast; but there are also colors contrary to each other, that is, which produce an ill effect because they shock the eye when brought very near it.

Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.

The ancient Romans built their greatest masterpieces of architecture, their amphitheaters, for wild beasts to fight in.

Nothing is so exhilarating in life as to be shot at with no result.

I want to be free; to escape. I use my pen as oars; the paper as my boat. I fill these pages to keep me afloat. I ride the waves of turmoil, so I can paddle away to calmer seas.

To have done anything just for money is to have been truly idle.

Things do not change; we change.

He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.

The German intellect wants the French sprightliness, the fine practical understanding of the English, and the American adventure; but it has a certain probity, which never rests in a superficial performance, but asks steadily, To what end? A German public asks for a controlling sincerity.

Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in.

Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.

Such is the state of life, that none are happy but by the anticipation of change: the change itself is nothing; when we have made it, the next wish is to change again. The world is not yet exhausted; let me see something tomorrow which I never saw before.

Language is only the instrument of science, and words are but the signs of ideas: I wish, however, that the instrument might be less apt to decay, and that signs might be permanent, like the things they denote.

I do not hesitate to read all good books in translations. What is really best in any book is translatable – any real insight or broad human sentiment.

Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.

Fear follows crime and is its punishment.

He that will enjoy the brightness of sunshine, must quit the coolness of the shade.

Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.