Voltaire

"Humans are the only animals that can have a conversation."

"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and imprisonment."

"Enthusiasm is the greatest asset in the world."

"The infinite is a mystery bestowed upon us by the Almighty."

"I am not in agreement with any organized church."

"Men will always be mad, and those who think they can cure them are the maddest of all."

"The only unchangeable certainty is that nothing is unchangeable or certain."

"Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause."

"The more things you own, the more they own you."

"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value—zero."

"Every perfect man is a man who has wasted time."

"Light tomorrow with today."

"In every country, a sensible lover must conceal his real feelings."

"The safety of the people shall be the highest law."

"It is clear that the individual who persists in his ordinary course of action is not a rebel."

"The majority of God's creatures do not believe in God."

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

"Wonder is the foundation of all philosophy, inquiry its progress, ignorance its end."

"Tears have been shed more for the fall of men than the fall of women."

"The spirit of monotheism is intolerance."

"A very merry, unprincipled, sensual, selfish, polished fellow."

"Marriage is the only adventure open to the cowardly."

"The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning."

"In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess."

"A society is happy when what is right is customary."

"The man who is firmly persuaded that he is right is at peace with himself."

"Art is the effort of man to express, not to explain."

"There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times."

"The public is an old woman, let her maunder and mumble."