Voltaire

"I would rather obey a fine lion than two hundred rats like myself."

"Charm is the quality in others that makes us more satisfied with ourselves."

"The absurd is the only truth."

"Luxury must be combated by duty, not by vice."

"Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do."

"The more extensive a man's knowledge of what has been done, the greater his power of knowing what to do."

"It is sad that the young must wait until they are old to become interesting."

"Love truth, but pardon error."

"Prejudice is opinion without judgment."

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

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

"Work spares us from three great evils: boredom, vice, and need."

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

"Civilization is filled with noise; solitude is filled with peace."

"Nothing is more important than freedom except wisdom."

"There is something wonderful about seeing animals in their native habitat."

"The desire for power is the demon of mankind."

"A witty saying proves nothing, but it amuses us."

"God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland."

"The pursuit of happiness is the greatest law ever given to mankind."

"He is a hard man to love, but it is not impossible."

"Better never to have been born than not to live well."

"The more one has, the more one desires; satisfaction is a dream which always flees."

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

"War is the trade of princes."

"Loyalty is a noose tied around the neck of honor."

"The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."

"Behind every great fortune, there is a crime."

"To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves."

"The degree of civilization in a society is revealed by entering its prisons."