David Boehm > David's Quotes

“Ice-cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn't illegal.”
― Voltaire

“The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor.”
― Voltaire

“It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce.”
― Voltaire

“Men are equal; it is not birth but virtue that makes the difference.”
― Voltaire

“If you have two religions in your land, the two will cut each other’s throats; but if you have thirty religions, they will dwell in peace”
― Voltaire

“In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.”
― Voltaire, Candide

“To ride a bicycle is in itself some protection against superstitious fears, since the bicycle is the product of pure reason applied to motion. Geometry at the service of man! Give me two spheres and a straight line and I will show you how far I can take them. Voltaire himself might have invented the bicycle, since it contributes so much to man’s welfare and nothing at all to his bane. Beneficial to the health, it emits no harmful fumes and permits only the most decorous speeds. How can a bicycle ever be an implement of harm?”
― Angela Carter

“Beware of the words "internal security," for they are the eternal cry of the oppressor.”
― Voltaire

“What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly - that is the first law of nature.”
― Voltaire

“We all look for happiness, but without knowing where to find it: like drunkards who look for their house, knowing dimly that they have one”
― Voltaire

“It is not more surprising to be born twice than once; everything in nature is resurrection.”
― Voltaire

“Books should confuse. Literature abhors the typical. Literature flows to the particular, the mundane, the greasiness of paper, the taste of warm beer, the smell of onion or quince. Auden has a line: "Ports have names they call the sea." Just so will literature describe life familiarly, regionally, in terms life is accustomed to use -- high or low matters not. Literature cannot by this impulse betray the grandeur of its subject -- there is only one subject: What it feels like to be alive. Nothing is irrelevant. Nothing is typical.”
― Richard Rodriguez, Brown: The Last Discovery of America

“Lies written in ink cannot disguise facts written in blood.”
― Lu Xun