--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you wish to obtain a great name or to…" description: "\"If you wish to obtain a great name or to found an establishment, be completely mad; but be sure that your madness corresponds with the turn and temper ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/voltaire-173_age_if-you-wish-to-obtain-a-great-name-or-to_3089553.png" --- # If you wish to obtain a great name or to found an… ![“If you wish to obtain a great name or to found an establishment, be completely mad; but be sure that your madness corresponds with the turn and temper of your age.” quote by Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/voltaire-173_age_if-you-wish-to-obtain-a-great-name-or-to_3089553.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/voltaire-173_age_if-you-wish-to-obtain-a-great-name-or-to_3089553.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/voltaire-173_age_if-you-wish-to-obtain-a-great-name-or-to_3089553.png) > “If you wish to obtain a great name or to found an establishment, be completely mad; but be sure that your madness corresponds with the turn and temper of your age.” [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Bold, unconventional ideas succeed when they align with the era’s spirit. **In simple terms:** Madness works if it fits the times. Key Takeaway Innovate wisely. Themes innovation conformity timing Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - entrepreneurship - artistic creation - political reform Key Concepts philosophy social change Questions to Reflect On - Is your vision ahead of its time? - How do you gauge societal readiness? A Different Perspective Risk of misreading the zeitgeist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Establishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/establishment/) [Fame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fame/) [Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madness/) [Temper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temper/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [“-It's a completely mad idea, I know. But my brain is a hope-making engine. -I'm so glad. Mine is a worst-case-scenario generator”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/it-s-a-completely-mad-idea-i-know-but-my-brain-is-a-hope-making/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [“It's a completely mad idea, I know. But my brain is a hope-making machine,' 'I'm so glad. Mine is a worst-case-scenario generator.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/it-s-a-completely-mad-idea-i-know-but-my-brain-is-a-hope-making-2/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [If you pretend you're completely mad, people believe it. 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If I see someone bullying a woman or child in the street, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susannah-york/the-things-that-make-me-very-angry-are-injustice-and-bullying-if-i/) [Susannah York](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susannah-york/) > [If success had come along when I was 17 it would either have killed me or sent me completely mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-kapranos/if-success-had-come-along-when-i-was-17-it-would-either-have-killed/) [Alex Kapranos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-kapranos/) ## More by Voltaire > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Fanaticism, to which men are so much inclined, has always served not only to render them more brutalized but more wicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/fanaticism-to-which-men-are-so-much-inclined-has-always-served-not/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [History is the study of the world's crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/history-is-the-study-of-the-world-s-crime/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we-do-the-best-we-know/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part, the rest are lost in the multitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-with-books-as-with-men-a-very-small-number-play-a-great-part/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Meslier was the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the meteors fatal to the Christian religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/meslier-was-the-most-singular-phenomenon-ever-seen-among-all-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." 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He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/) [Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I calculated that if I live up to the age of 80, then I end up using 450 toothbrushes in my life. All that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/i-calculated-that-if-i-live-up-to-the-age-of-80-then-i-end-up-using/) [Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/) > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [We have started to make music at age seven. That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you wish to obtain a great name or to found an establishment, be completely mad; but be sure that your madness corresponds with the turn and temper of your age.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Voltaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/if-you-wish-to-obtain-a-great-name-or-to-found-an-establishment-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Age" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/if-you-wish-to-obtain-a-great-name-or-to-found-an-establishment-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/voltaire-173_age_if-you-wish-to-obtain-a-great-name-or-to_3089553.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/voltaire-173_age_if-you-wish-to-obtain-a-great-name-or-to_3089553.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/voltaire-173_age_if-you-wish-to-obtain-a-great-name-or-to_3089553.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you wish to obtain a great name or to found an establishment, be completely mad; but be sure that your…” — Voltaire", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Voltaire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you wish to obtain a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/if-you-wish-to-obtain-a-great-name-or-to-found-an-establishment-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/if-you-wish-to-obtain-a-great-name-or-to-found-an-establishment-be/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```