Voltaire

Time, which alone makes the reputation of men, ends by making their defects respectable.

Weakness on both sides is, as we know, the motto of all quarrels.

He who is not just is severe, he who is not wise is sad.

Froth at the top, dregs at bottom, but the middle excellent.

He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise.

He shines in the second rank, who is eclipsed in the first.

Wherever there is a settled society, religion is necessary; the laws cover manifest crimes, and religion covers secret crimes.

When men do not have healthy notions of the Divinity, false ideas supplant them, just as in bad times one uses counterfeit money when there is no good money.

To believe in God is impossible not to believe in Him is absurd.

Society therefore is as ancient as the world.

Use, do not abuse... neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy.

He who has not the spirit of this age, has all the misery of it.

The ear is the avenue to the heart.

Our country is that spot to which our heart is bound.

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

The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice.

I am very fond of truth, but not at all of martyrdom.

Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes.

The superfluous, a very necessary thing.

We cannot wish for that we know not.