Voltaire's real quotes
The top 3 according to 4 votes from people: We must cultivate our garden. · All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. · If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.. (Updated Oct 27, 2024.)
Voltaire's lines from his tales, plays and letters, with their source. His most famous «quote», «I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it», isn't his: it was written by his biographer Evelyn Beatrice Hall (1906).
Automatically translated (original in Français). See the original
Top 10
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1
We must cultivate our garden.
The last line of Candide (1759).
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2
All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.
Pangloss's philosophy, mocked all through Candide (1759).
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3
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.
Epistle to the Author of the Book of the Three Impostors (1770).
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4
It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one.
Zadig (1747).
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5
The best is the enemy of the good.
The verse tale La Bégueule (1772), echoing an Italian proverb.
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6
Work keeps away three great evils: boredom, vice and need.
The old Turk in Candide (1759).
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7
In this country, it is good to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.
Candide (1759), on the execution of British admiral John Byng in 1757.
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8
Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.
Letter to Frederick II of Prussia (1770).
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9
The superfluous, a very necessary thing.
The poem Le Mondain (1736).
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10
Crush the infamous thing!
His motto against religious fanaticism, signing off many of his letters in the 1760s.
Candidates
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11
Man is free the moment he wishes to be.
The tragedy Brutus (1730).
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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Comments (7)
« Il faut cultiver notre jardin », la fin de Candide est parfaite.
Enfin une liste sans la fausse citation « Je ne suis pas d'accord avec ce que vous dites… », merci !
Pangloss, le premier optimiste toxique de l'histoire 😄
Voltaire reste d'une modernité folle.
Très bonne idée de préciser les sources.
« Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien », je la répète au boulot tous les jours.
Candide, relu cet été, toujours aussi drôle.