Stacey's blog: "Rambles"

A company of tyrants is inaccessible to all seductions. Voltaire A witty saying proves nothing. Voltaire All men are born with a nose and ten fingers, but no one was born with a knowledge of God. Voltaire All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets. Voltaire All styles are good except the tiresome kind. Voltaire All the reasonings of men are not worth one sentiment of women. Voltaire An ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination. Voltaire Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices. Voltaire Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung. Voltaire Anything too stupid to be said is sung. Voltaire Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. Voltaire As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities. Voltaire Behind every successful man stands a surprised mother-in-law. Voltaire Better is the enemy of good. Voltaire Business is the salt of life. Voltaire But nothing is more estimable than a physician who, having studied nature from his youth, knows the properties of the human body, the diseases which assail it, the remedies which will benefit it, exercises his art with caution, and pays equal attention to the rich and the poor. Voltaire By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property. Voltaire Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause. Voltaire Clever tyrants are never punished. Voltaire Common sense is not so common. Voltaire Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient. Voltaire Do well and you will have no need for ancestors. Voltaire Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd. Voltaire Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do. Voltaire Every one goes astray, but the least imprudent are they who repent the soonest. Voltaire Everything is for the best in this best of possible worlds. Voltaire Everything's fine today, that is our illusion. Voltaire Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe. Voltaire Fear follows crime and is its punishment. Voltaire For take thy balance if thou be so wise And weigh the wind that under heaven doth blow; Or weigh the light that in the east doth rise; Or weigh the thought that from man's mind doth flow. Voltaire Friendship is the marriage of the soul, and this marriage is liable to divorce. Voltaire Froth at the top, dregs at bottom, but the middle excellent. Voltaire God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well. Voltaire God is a comedian, playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. Voltaire He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise. Voltaire He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked. Voltaire He shines in the second rank, who is eclipsed in the first. Voltaire He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead. Voltaire He who has not the spirit of this age, has all the misery of it. Voltaire He who is not just is severe, he who is not wise is sad. Voltaire He who thinks himself wise, O heavens! is a great fool. Voltaire History is only the register of crimes and misfortunes. Voltaire How inexpressible is the meanness of being a hypocrite! how horrible is it to be a mischievous and malignant hypocrite. Voltaire How pleasant it is for a father to sit at his child's board. It is like an aged man reclining under the shadow of an oak which he has planted. Voltaire I advice you to go on living solely to enrage those who are paying you annuities. Voltaire I am very fond of truth, but not at all of martyrdom. Voltaire I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it. Voltaire I hate women because they always know where things are. Voltaire I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "O Lord make my enemies ridiculous." And God granted it. Voltaire I know many books which have bored their readers, but I know of none which has done real evil. Voltaire I Thy God am the Light and the Mind which were before substance was divided from Spirit and darkness from Light. Voltaire Ice-cream is exquisite - what a pity it isn't illegal. Voltaire If God created us in his own image, we have more than reciprocated. Voltaire If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him. Voltaire If the bookseller happens to desire a privilege for his merchandise, whether he is selling Rabelais or the Fathers of the Church, the magistrate grants the privilege without answering for the contents of the book. Voltaire If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him. Voltaire If we do not find anything pleasant, at least we shall find something new. Voltaire Illusion is the first of all pleasures. Voltaire In every author let us distinguish the man from his works. Voltaire In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another. Voltaire Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes. Voltaire Injustice in the end produces independence. Voltaire Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others? Voltaire It is an infantile superstition of the human spirit that virginity would be thought a virtue and not the barrier that separates ignorance from knowledge. Voltaire It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one. Voltaire It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong. Voltaire It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere. Voltaire It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets. Voltaire It is lamentable, that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind. Voltaire It is new fancy rathert than taste which produces so many new fashions. Voltaire It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce. Voltaire It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it. Voltaire It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue. Voltaire It is said that the present is pregnant with the future. Voltaire It is the flash which appears, the thunderbolt will follow. Voltaire It is today, my dear, that I take a perilous leap. Voltaire It is vain for the coward to flee; death follows close behind; it is only by defying it that the brave escape. Voltaire Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers. Voltaire Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers. Voltaire Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world. Voltaire Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us. Voltaire Love has features which pierce all hearts, he wears a bandage which conceals the faults of those beloved. He has wings, he comes quickly and flies away the same. Voltaire Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination. Voltaire Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. Voltaire Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity. Voltaire Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts. Voltaire Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts. Voltaire My life is a struggle. Voltaire Nature has always had more force than education. Voltaire Neither holy, nor Roman, nor Empire. Voltaire Never argue at the dinner table, for the one who is not hungry always gets the best of the argument. Voltaire No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking. Voltaire No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible. Voltaire Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense. Voltaire Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. Voltaire Now, now my good man, this is no time for making enemies. Voltaire One great use of words is to hide our thoughts. Voltaire One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose. Voltaire Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes. Voltaire Originality is nothing by judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another. Voltaire Our country is that spot to which our heart is bound. Voltaire Paradise was made for tender hearts; hell, for loveless hearts. Voltaire Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time. Voltaire Prejudice, friend, govern the vulgar crowd. Voltaire Satire lies about literary men while they live and eulogy lies about them when they die. Voltaire Slavery is also as ancient as war, and was as human nature. Voltaire Society therefore is an ancient as the world. 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. Voltaire Tears are the silent language of grief. Voltaire 'That is indisputable,' was the answer, 'but in this country it is a good thing to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.' Voltaire The ancient Romans built their greatest masterpieces of architecture, their amphitheaters, for wild beasts to fight in. Voltaire The ancients recommended us to sacrifice to the Graces, but Milton sacrificed to the Devil. Voltaire The art of government is to make two-thirds of a nation pay all it possibly can pay for the benefit of the other third. Voltaire The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. Voltaire The best is the enemy of the good. Voltaire The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out. Voltaire The ear is the avenue to the heart. Voltaire The first step, my son, which one makes in the world, is the one on which depends the rest of our days. Voltaire The flowery style is not unsuitable to public speeches or addresses, which amount only to compliment. The lighter beauties are in their place when there is nothing more solid to say; but the flowery style ought to be banished from a pleading, a sermon, or a didactic work. Voltaire The Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire. Voltaire The ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination. Voltaire The infinitely little have a pride infinitely great. Voltaire The instruction we find in books is like fire. We fetch it from our neighbours, kindle it at home, communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all. Voltaire 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. Voltaire The mouth obeys poorly when the heart murmurs. Voltaire The multitude of books is making us ignorant. Voltaire The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year. Voltaire The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error. Voltaire The public is a ferocious beast; one must either chain it or flee from it. Voltaire The safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death. Voltaire The secret of being a bore... is to tell everything. Voltaire The secret of being tiresome is in telling everything. Voltaire The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice. Voltaire The superfluous, a very necessary thing. Voltaire The very impossibility in which I find myself to prove that God is not, discovers to me his existence. Voltaire The world embarrasses me, and I cannot dream that this watch exists and has no watchmaker. Voltaire There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times. Voltaire Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too. Voltaire This self-love is the instrument of our preservation; it resembles the provision for the perpetuity of mankind: it is necessary, it is dear to us, it gives us pleasure, and we must conceal it. Voltaire Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. Voltaire To be at peace in crime! ah, who can thus flatter himself. Voltaire To believe in God is impossible not to believe in Him is absurd. Voltaire To hold a pen is to be at war. Voltaire To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered. Voltaire To the wicked, everything serves as pretext. Voltaire To them it seemed that the gifts of an enemy were to be dreaded. Voltaire Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them. Voltaire Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy. Voltaire Very learned women are to be found, in the same manner as female warriors; but they are seldom or ever inventors. Voltaire Very often, say what you will, a knave is only a fool. Voltaire We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies - it is the first law of nature. Voltaire We are rarely proud when we are alone. Voltaire We cannot always oblige; but we can always speak obligingly. Voltaire We cannot wish for that we know not. Voltaire We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard. Voltaire We must distinguish between speaking to deceive and being silent to be reserved. Voltaire Weakness on both sides is, as we know, the motto of all quarrels. Voltaire What a heavy burden is a name that has become too famous. Voltaire 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 What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy. Voltaire What then do you call your soul? What idea have you of it? You cannot of yourselves, without revelation, admit the existence within you of anything but a power unknown to you of feeling and thinking. Voltaire When he to whom one speaks does not understand, and he who speaks himself does not understand, that is metaphysics. Voltaire When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion. Voltaire Whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors. Voltaire You see many stars at night in the sky but find them not when the sun rises; can you say that there are no stars in the heaven of day? So, O man! because you behold not God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God. Voltaire Your destiny is that of a man, and your vows those of a god. Voltaire Your Majesty may think me an impatient sick man, and that the Turks are even sicker. Voltaire