Voltaire

Stand upright, speak thy thoughts, declare The truth thou hast, that all may share; Be bold, proclaim it everywhere: They only live who dare.

Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.

Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy.

Better is the enemy of good.

An ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination.

Doing as others told me, I was blind. Coming when others called me, I was lost. Then I left everyone, myself as well. Then I found myself, myself as well.

It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.

I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that decision.

Truth is the property of no individual but is the treasure of all men.

Our words have wings, but fly not where we would.

This merriment of parsons is mighty offensive.

A jest often decides matters of importance more effectual and happily than seriousness.

The adventitious beauty of poetry may be felt in the greater delight with a verse given in a happy quotation than in the poem.

There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy’s life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.

Leave the rest to the gods.

Gazing to the south, from the eastern peak, the moon appears through the raindrops.

He that does good for good’s sake seeks neither paradise nor reward, but he is sure of both in the end.

As Puppets are to Men, and Babies to Children, so is Man’s Workmanship to God’s: We are the Picture, he the Reality.

Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of solitaire. It is a grand passion. It seizes a person whole and once it has done so, he/she will have to accept that his life will be radically changed.

We acquire the strength we have overcome.