--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The greatest consolation in life is to…" description: "\"The greatest consolation in life is to say what one thinks.\" — Voltaire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/voltaire-173_consolation_the-greatest-consolation-in-life-is-to-s_1199417.png" --- # The greatest consolation in life is to say what one thinks. ![“The greatest consolation in life is to say what one thinks.” quote by Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/voltaire-173_consolation_the-greatest-consolation-in-life-is-to-s_1199417.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/voltaire-173_consolation_the-greatest-consolation-in-life-is-to-s_1199417.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/voltaire-173_consolation_the-greatest-consolation-in-life-is-to-s_1199417.png) > “The greatest consolation in life is to say what one thinks.” [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. Expressing one’s thoughts provides comfort and authenticity in life. **In simple terms:** Speaking truth comforts you. Key Takeaway Speak honestly. Themes authenticity expression comfort Mood reflective confident Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal relationships - public speaking - writing - conflict resolution Key Concepts existentialism self‑actualization Questions to Reflect On - What truth are you avoiding? - How does honesty affect your peace? A Different Perspective May cause social friction or backlash. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consolation/) [Consolation Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consolation-life-818860/) [Greatest Consolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatest-consolation-446268/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-is/) [Life Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-say/) [Say Thinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say-thinks-1250204/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [The great consolation in life is to say what one thinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-great-consolation-in-life-is-to-say-what-one-thinks/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“This is the greatest consolation in life. In poetically well-built museums, formed from the heart's compulsions, we are consoled not by finding in them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/this-is-the-greatest-consolation-in-life-in-poetically-well-built/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [Perhaps the greatest consolation of the oppressed is to consider themselves superior to their tyrants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-green/perhaps-the-greatest-consolation-of-the-oppressed-is-to-consider/) [Julien Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-green/) > [“You realize now that she turned to you as a form of consolation, to give her life a meaning and a purpose it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/you-realize-now-that-she-turned-to-you-as-a-form-of-consolation-to/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [ Those who are absent, by its means become present; it \[mail\] is the consolation of life. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/those-who-are-absent-by-its-means-become-present-it-mail-is-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [And some win peace who spend The skill of words to sweeten despair Of finding consolation where Life has but one dark end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-de-la-mare/and-some-win-peace-who-spend-the-skill-of-words-to-sweeten-despair-of/) [Walter de La Mare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-de-la-mare/) > [ “\[...\] he felt that he too was only a baby, with the chance to live without shame, without the need for consolation for a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-felt-that-he-too-was-only-a-baby-with-the-chance-to-live-without/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“He fell in love with his golem, found it a source of consolation. Life”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/he-fell-in-love-with-his-golem-found-it-a-source-of-consolation-life/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“I dare say he thinks he has outwitted me cleverly. And this is the way men deal with women — still concealing danger from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-dare-say-he-thinks-he-has-outwitted-me-cleverly-and-this-is-the-way/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Reading between the lines, Id say she thinks youre a bit conceited, mate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sirius-black/reading-between-the-lines-id-say-she-thinks-youre-a-bit-conceited-mate/) [Sirius Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sirius-black/) > [There are indeed ways for a queen to say what she thinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margrethe-ii-of-denmark/there-are-indeed-ways-for-a-queen-to-say-what-she-thinks/) [Margrethe II of Denmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margrethe-ii-of-denmark/) > [It is the rare fortune of these days that one may think what one likes and say what one thinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/it-is-the-rare-fortune-of-these-days-that-one-may-think-what-one/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [We like a man to come right out and say what he thinks- if we agree with him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/we-like-a-man-to-come-right-out-and-say-what-he-thinks-if-we-agree/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If one is to deal with people on a large scale and say what one thinks, how can one avoid melancholy? I don’t admit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/if-one-is-to-deal-with-people-on-a-large-scale-and-say-what-one/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [It is always brave to say what everyone thinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-always-brave-to-say-what-everyone-thinks/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Being unable to make people more reasonable, I preferred to be happy away from them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/being-unable-to-make-people-more-reasonable-i-preferred-to-be-happy/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease or not?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/when-his-highness-sends-a-ship-to-egypt-does-he-trouble-his-head/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/madness-is-to-think-of-too-many-things-in-succession-too-fast-or-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/god-gave-us-the-gift-of-life-it-is-up-to-us-to-give-ourselves-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-not-inequality-which-is-the-real-misfortune-it-is-dependence/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Providence has given us hope and sleep as a compensation for the many cares of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/providence-has-given-us-hope-and-sleep-as-a-compensation-for-the-many/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-to-justify-their-wrong-doings-and-employ-speech/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/work-spares-us-from-three-evils-boredom-vice-and-need/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) [Explore all 934 Voltaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More Consolation quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I had thought that growing up's consolation was that you could escape from the arbitrariness of things, that somehow one acquired more control. Now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-galloway/i-had-thought-that-growing-up-s-consolation-was-that-you-could-escape/) [Janice Galloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-galloway/) > [It is part of God's plan for us that Christ shall come to us in everyone; it is in their particular role that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caryll-houselander/it-is-part-of-god-s-plan-for-us-that-christ-shall-come-to-us-in/) [Caryll Houselander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caryll-houselander/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But there are times when men have serious thoughts, and it is at such times, when they begin to think, that they begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/but-there-are-times-when-men-have-serious-thoughts-and-it-is-at-such/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [The slave and those whose present life is miserable and who can find no consolation in the heavens are assured that at least the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-slave-and-those-whose-present-life-is-miserable-and-who-can-find/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Perhaps the greatest consolation of the oppressed is to consider themselves superior to their tyrants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-green/perhaps-the-greatest-consolation-of-the-oppressed-is-to-consider/) [Julien Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-green/) > [Books, which we mistake for consolation, only add depth to our sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/books-which-we-mistake-for-consolation-only-add-depth-to-our-sorrow/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [The day has the color and the sound of winter. Thoughts turn to chowder...chowder breathes reassurance. It steams consolation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clementine-paddleford/the-day-has-the-color-and-the-sound-of-winter-thoughts-turn-to/) [Clementine Paddleford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clementine-paddleford/) > [Seek and possess holiness, and consolation will follow, as assuredly as warmth follows the dispensation of the rays of the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cogswell-upham/seek-and-possess-holiness-and-consolation-will-follow-as-assuredly-as/) [Thomas Cogswell Upham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cogswell-upham/) > [Solitude was my only consolation - deep, dark, deathlike solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/solitude-was-my-only-consolation-deep-dark-deathlike-solitude/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have the consolation of leaving your kingdom in the highest degree of glory and of reputation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cardinal-richelieu/i-have-the-consolation-of-leaving-your-kingdom-in-the-highest-degree/) [Cardinal Richelieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cardinal-richelieu/) > [All consolation that does not come from God is but desolation; when the soul has learned to receive no comfort but in God only,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-marie-bouvier-de-la-motte-guyon/all-consolation-that-does-not-come-from-god-is-but-desolation-when/) [Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanne-marie-bouvier-de-la-motte-guyon/) > [Let is walk ... joyously, dear souls, among the difficulties of this passing life ... These pains will have an end when our life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-is-walk-joyously-dear-souls-among-the-difficulties-of-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thinking about suicide is a potent consolation: it helps us to get through many a bad night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/thinking-about-suicide-is-a-potent-consolation-it-helps-us-to-get/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Browse all 587 Consolation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consolation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The greatest consolation in life is to say what one thinks.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Voltaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-greatest-consolation-in-life-is-to-say-what-one-thinks/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Consolation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-greatest-consolation-in-life-is-to-say-what-one-thinks/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/voltaire-173_consolation_the-greatest-consolation-in-life-is-to-s_1199417.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/voltaire-173_consolation_the-greatest-consolation-in-life-is-to-s_1199417.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/voltaire-173_consolation_the-greatest-consolation-in-life-is-to-s_1199417.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The greatest consolation in life is to say what one thinks.” — 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": "The greatest consolation in life is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-greatest-consolation-in-life-is-to-say-what-one-thinks/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-greatest-consolation-in-life-is-to-say-what-one-thinks/#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 } } ] } ```