Voltaire

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

Stand upright, speak thy thoughts, declare The truth thou hast, that all may share; Be bold, proclaim it everywhere: They only live who dare.

There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times.

The ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination.

The Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire.

Very often, say what you will, a knave is only a fool.

Rebellions of the belly are the worst.

The eye is the jewel of the body.

If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth.

Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.

It is a wise tune that knows its own father, and I like my music to be the legitimate offspring of respectable parents.

What you do makes a difference. And you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

You may try but you can never imagine what it is to have a man’s form of genius in you, and to suffer the slavery of being a girl.

How pleasant it is for a father to sit at his child’s board. It is like an aged man reclining under the shadow of an oak which he has planted.

Our words have wings, but fly not where we would.

We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

A genius can never expect to have a good time anywhere, if he is a genuine article, but America is about the last place in which life will be endurable at all for an inspired writer of any kind.

My love for you was like a poem I wrote; one that I disregarded as average. Torn out, thrown away to the rubbish heap, waiting; wishing to be picked up and appreciated by someone else, for the masterpiece that it is.

You are a product of your environment. So choose the environment that will best develop you toward your objective. Analyze your life in terms of its environment. Are the things around you helping you toward success – or are they holding you back?

If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sun beams and you will always look lovely!

The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.