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 never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And God granted it.

Voltaire

More information about this quote
Topic
Enemies

Author

Voltaire
Medium
Letter
Language
French
Time
1767 1760s 18th century
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Voltaire. Letter to Etienne Noel Damilaville. 16 May 1767.

Another quote from the 1770s

When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.

Thomas Paine

Common Sense

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More information about this quote
Topic
Anti-monarchism Political theory

Author

Thomas Paine
Source
Common Sense
Medium
Pamphlet
Genre
Political literature
Language
English
Time
1776 1770s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Paine, Thomas [published anonymously]. Common Sense. Philadelphia: R. Bell, sect. 4.

Current Citation

Paine, Thomas. "Common Sense." Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Other Political Writings, edited by Mark Philp. Oxford University Press, 2009, sect. 4.

Another quote originally in French

The love of wealth is therefore to be traced, as either a principal or accessory motive, at the bottom of all that the Americans do; this gives to all their passions a sort of family likeness.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Democracy in America

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Read Democracy in America, vol. 1 at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Love of money American character America

Author

Alexis de Tocqueville
Source
Democracy in America
Genre
Political literature
Language
French
Time
1840 1840s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. De La Democratie en Amerique [Democracy in America]. Vol. 2, London: Saunders and Otley, 1840, bk. 3. ch. 17.

Current Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II, translated by Henry Reeve. Bantam Classics, 2000, vol. 2, bk. 3. ch. 17.