Voltaire

"I should like to know which is worse: to be ravished a hundred times by pirates, and have a buttock cut off, and run the gauntlet of the Bulgarians, and be flogged and hanged in an auto-da-fe, and be dissected, and have to row in a galley -- in short, to undergo all the miseries we have each of us suffered -- or simply to sit here and do nothing?' That is a hard question,' said Candide."

19 likes

Source: Voltaire (2016). “VOLTAIRE – Premium Collection: Novels, Philosophical Writings, Historical Works, Plays, Poems & Letters (60+ Works in One Volume) - Illustrated: Candide, A Philosophical Dictionary, A Treatise on Toleration, Plato's Dream, The Princess of Babylon, Zadig, The Huron, Socrates, The Sage and the Atheist, Dialogues, Oedipus, Caesar…”, p.4095, e-artnow

About the author

Voltaire

Voltaire

Philosopher, Writer

Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer known for his advocacy of civil liberties and criticism of religious dogma, particularly in his work 'Candide'.

All quotes by Voltaire →

Same author

More quotes by Voltaire

See all →
Voltaire Philosopher, Writer

"So long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men."

Read quote
Voltaire Philosopher, Writer

"Give me the patience for the small things of life, courage for the great trials of life. Help me to do my best each day and then go to sleep knowing God is awake."

Read quote
Voltaire Philosopher, Writer

"Many are destined to reason wrongly; others, not to reason at all; and others, to persecute those who do reason."

Read quote