Voltaire

"Art is the great democratic element in human life."

"To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth."

"The conscience is the sacred fire of liberty."

"A battle lost or won is determined by the troops that are on the field at the time, not by the generals in the rear."

"Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too."

"In truth, though, music is the only universal language."

"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."

"Every man is guilty of all the good he didn't do."

"Necessity never made a good bargain."

"There is no greater monster than that which grows out of silence."

"Achievement is not final, failure is not fatal."

"My life has been one long descent into respectability."

"The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least amount of hissing."

"A man may as well preach a sermon, as pray a prayer."

"The more you have the more you are occupied. The less you have the more free you are."

"A true friend is one who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself."

"Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person."

"Beware of the inaccessible mountain peak; for it is surrounded by clouds."

"Every man is born with the right to go to hell in his own way."

"The more you know, the less you're sure of."

"It is better to be young and foolish than old and foolish."

"I was never allowed to question the things that mattered."

"God gave us life; love is the gift we give each other."

"The most learned are often the least wise."

"We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies."

"The perfect is the enemy of the good, and the certain is the enemy of growth."

"A wise man doesn't give the right answer, he poses the right question."

"It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."

"The true alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words."

"I have seen much to hate here much to forgive but nothing to despise."