If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.

Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer.

Voltaire

More information about this quote

Topic

Existence of God God

Author

Voltaire

Source

Letter to the Author of The Three Imposters

Medium

Letter

Language

French

Time

1768 1760s 18th century

Occupation

Philosopher Writer

From

France Europe

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Voltaire. Épître à l'Auteur du Livre des Trois Imposteurs [Letter to the author of The Three Impostors]. 10 Nov. 1770.

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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by Voltaire

I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our more stupid melancholy propensities, for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one’s very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?

Voltaire

Candide

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More information about this quote
Topic
Love of life

Author

Voltaire
Source
Candide
Medium
Novel
Genre
Satire
Language
French
Time
1759 1750s 18th century
Era
Age of Enlightenment
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Voltaire. Candide, ou l'Optimisme [Candide: or, All for the Best]. Geneva: Gabriel Cramer, 1759, ch. 12.

Current Citation

Voltaire. Candide, edited by Nicholas Cronk. W. W. Norton & Company, 2016, ch. 12.

Another quote from the 1760s

Censorship is crucial for preserving morals but useless for restoring them.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The Social Contract

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More information about this quote
Topic
Censorship Morality

Author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Source
The Social Contract
Genre
Political literature Philosophical literature
Language
French
Time
1762 1760s 18th century
Era
Age of Enlightenment
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Du contrat social ou Principes du droit politique [On the Social Contract or Principles of Political Law]. Amsterdam: Marc Michel Rey, 1762, bk. 4, ch. 7.

Current Citation

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. "Of the Social Contract." Of the Social Contract and Other Political Writings, translated by Quintin Hoare. Penguin Classics, 2012, bk. 4, ch. 7.

Another quote about God

Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a prime mover, put in motion by no other; and this everyone understands to be God.

St. Thomas Aquinas

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More information about this quote
Topic
Origin of the universe God Creation

Author

St. Thomas Aquinas
Source
Summa Theologica
Genre
Religious literature
Language
Latin
Time
1265 1260s 13th century
Era
Middle Ages
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Saint Thomas Aquinus. Summa Theologica. c. 1274, pt. 1.

Current Citation

Saint Thomas Aquinus. The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Provinc. Christian Classics, 1981, pt. 1.

Another quote originally in French

Good sense is of all things in the world the most equally distributed, for everybody thinks he is so well supplied with it, that even those most difficult to please in all other matters never desire more of it than they already possess.

René Descartes

Discourse on Method

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More information about this quote
Topic
Common sense

Author

René Descartes
Source
Discourse on Method
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
French
Time
1637 1630s 17th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Descartes, René [published anonymously]. Discours de la Méthode: Pour bien conduire sa raison, et chercher la vérité dans les sciences [Discourse on Method: To Conduct Reason Well, and Seek Truth in the Sciences]. Leiden, 1637, pt. 1.

Current Citation

Descartes, René. Discourse on the Method, translated by Ian Maclean. Oxford University Press, 2008, pt. 1.