“Morality is everywhere the same for all men, therefore it comes from God; sects differ, therefore they are the work of men.” — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Faith consists in believing not what seems true, but what seems false to our understanding. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of reason. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
“In the beginning God created man in His own image, and man has been trying to repay the favor ever since.” — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Our priests are not what a silly populace supposes; all their learning consists in our credulity. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Meslier was the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the meteors fatal to the Christian religion. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
I read these words which are the sum of all moral philosophy, and which cut short all the disputes of the casuists:… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Let us meet four times a year in a grand temple with music, and thank God for all his gifts. There is… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Theological religion is the source of all imaginable follies and disturbances. It is the parent of fanaticism and civil discord; it is… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Of all religions, the Christian should of course inspire the most tolerance, but until now Christians have been the most intolerant of… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Of all religions, Christianity is without a doubt the one that should inspire tolerance most, although, up to now, the Christians have… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Religion may be purified. This great work was begun two hundred years ago: but men can only bear light to come in… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
The institution of religion exists only to keep mankind in order, and to make men merit the goodness of God by their… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
“A true god surely cannot have been born of a girl, nor died on the gibbet, nor be eaten in a piece… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
For seventeen hundred years the Christian sect has done nothing but harm. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Wherever there is a settled society, religion is necessary; the laws cover manifest crimes, and religion covers secret crimes. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
“I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
If there were only one religion in England there would be danger of despotism, if there were two, they would cut each… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
If you have two religions in your land, the two will cut each other’s throats; but if you have thirty religions, they… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
In all the disputes which have excited Christians against each other, Rome has invariably decided in favor of that opinion which tended… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy the mad daughter of a wise mother. These daughters have too long dominated… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Religion was instituted to make us happy in this life and in the other. What must we do to be happy in… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Once your faith persuades you to believe what your intelligence declares absurd, beware, lest you likewise sacrifice your reason in the conduct… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Fanaticism, to which men are so much inclined, has always served not only to render them more brutalized but more wicked. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part, the rest are lost in the multitude. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Meslier was the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the meteors fatal to the Christian religion. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Being unable to make people more reasonable, I preferred to be happy away from them — Voltaire Copy Share Image
When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease or not? — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well. — Voltaire Copy Share Image