Voltaire

Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.

The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error.

Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them.

Better is the enemy of good.

The first step, my son, which one makes in the world, is the one on which depends the rest of our days.

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

I like not only to be loved, but also to be told that I am loved. I am not sure that you are of the same mind. But the realm of silence is large enough beyond the grave. This is the world of light and speech, and I shall take leave to tell you that you are very dear.

The way to do well is to do well.

The longer we live the more we think and the higher the value we put on friendship and tenderness towards parents and friends.

You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.

Animals are my friends… and I don’t eat my friends.

What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch?

You must not suppose, because I am a man of letters, that I never tried to earn an honest living.

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.

Grow old along with me; the best is yet to be.

Any man or institution that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose.

I am neither of the East nor of the West, no boundaries exist within my breast.

We sing in a church, why can we not dance there?

I hold every man a debtor to his profession.

Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

Very few people can afford to be poor.