Doubt is not a pleasant condition. But certainty is an absurd one.

Le doute n'est pas un etat bien agreable, mais l'assurance est un etat ridicule.

Voltaire

More information about this quote

Topic

Doubt vs. certainty Doubt and skepticism Certainty

Author

Voltaire

Medium

Letter

Language

French

Time

1770 1770s 18th century

Occupation

Philosopher Writer

From

France Europe

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Voltaire. Letter to Frederick William. 28 Nov. 1770.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Voltaire about doubt vs. certainty: “Doubt is not a pleasant condition. But certainty is an absurd one.”
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A quote by Voltaire about doubt vs. certainty: “Doubt is not a pleasant condition. But certainty is an absurd one.”
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A quote by Voltaire about doubt vs. certainty: “Doubt is not a pleasant condition. But certainty is an absurd one.”
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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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Read Candide at Project Gutenberg
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 1770s

And with the guts of the last priest
Let's wring the neck of the last king.

Denis Diderot

More information about this quote
Topic
Anti-clericalism Anti-monarchism Revolution

Author

Denis Diderot
Source
Les Eleutheromanes
Medium
Poem
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
French
Time
1772 1770s 18th century
Era
Age of Enlightenment
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Diderot, Denis. "Les Eleutheromanes [The Eleutherans]." Correspondance littéraire, 1 Mar. 1772.

Another quote originally in French

There are more dead people than living. And their numbers are increasing. The living are getting rarer.

Eugene Ionesco

More information about this quote
Topic
Dead people
Speaker
Berenger

Author

Eugene Ionesco
Source
Rhinoceros
Medium
Play
Language
French
Time
1959 1950s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Ionesco, Eugene. Rhinoceros. 1959, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Düsseldorf, Germany, act 1.