Quotes by Voltaire
1694 – 1778
Voltaire (1694-1778) was one of the leading figures of the French Enlightenment.
Bio
He first made a name for himself as a poet and playwright before turning to political philosophy, history, religious criticism, and other literary activities.
Voltaire featured as the November 2024 OLL Birthday. Read it here.
Economics
Voltaire on the Benefits which Trade and Economic Abundance bring to People living in the Present Age (1736)
Religion & Toleration
Voltaire notes that where Commerce and Toleration predominate, a Multiplicity of Faiths can live together in Peace and Happiness (1764)
Philosophy
Voltaire lampooned the excessively optimistic Leibnitzian philosophers in his philosophic tale Candide by exposing his characters to one disaster after another, like a tsunami in Lisbon, to show that this was not “the best of all possible worlds”
Religion & Toleration
Voltaire argued that religious intolerance was against the law of nature and was worse than the “right of the tiger” (1763)
Literature & Music
Voltaire in Candide says that “tending one’s own garden” is not only a private activity but also productive (1759)
Science
Voltaire laments the destruction of Lisbon in an earthquake and criticises the philosophers who thought that “all’s well with the world” and the religious who thought it was “God’s will” (1755)