Voltaire
French Enlightenment writer and philosopher, 1694–1778. 1 explained quote and 1 wrongly credited to them.
Steady, useful work protects us from three things that ruin lives: having nothing to do, falling into bad habits, and being poor.
Read the full explanation →A summary of Voltaire's attitude written by an English biographer in 1906. She later explained that she never meant it as a quotation.
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About Voltaire
Voltaire, the pen name of François-Marie Arouet, was the most famous writer of the French Enlightenment. A playwright, poet, historian and satirist, he attacked religious intolerance, censorship and arbitrary power, was imprisoned in the Bastille and spent years in exile, and wrote the comic novel Candide.
Voltaire was a sharp phrase-maker, but the sentence most often credited to him, about defending to the death your right to speak, was written by an English biographer in 1906.
More lines by Voltaire
Short quotes checked against their sources.
- “Il faut cultiver notre jardin. (We must cultivate our garden.)”Candide, 1759