Voltaire

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to prevent one's head being cut off."

"Injustice in the end produces independence."

"Beware of mixing business with friendship."

"The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease."

"Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure."

"In this country, it is thought good to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others."

"The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by Infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity."

"History is filled with the sound of silken slippers going downstairs and wooden shoes coming up."

"To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance."

"It is lamentable, that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind."

"Our life is a succession of moments: we are in each moment, if we think so, in a whole eternity."

"The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse."

"All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets."

"Liberty of thought is the life of the soul."

"The art of conversation is the art of hearing as well as of being heard."

"Conviction is the conscience of the mind."

"From the moment we enter this world, we begin to die."

"History is covered with the sound of silken slippers going downstairs and wooden shoes coming up."

"An ideal form of government is democracy tempered by assassination."

"The human species is composed of two distinct races: those who have money and those who are clever."

"Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense."

"It is in our interest that there be laws, and that those laws be just."

"Absence of proof is not proof of absence."

"Every perfect man has a defect: he is too perfect."

"The ancients recommended us to sacrifice to the Graces, but they did not tell us that there is no grace without a little good luck."

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

"The true state of mankind is to do, not to dream."

"Friendship is the marriage of the soul."

"Nature has always had more force than education."

"We owe respect to the living; to the dead we owe only truth."