Mike Brown

“God's only excuse is that He doesn't exist," remarked Voltaire after a natural disaster that killed many people. Nietzsche loved this quote and wished he'd coined it!”
― Voltaire

“if Columbus in an island of America had not caught the disease, which poisons the source of generation, and often indeed prevents generation, we should not have chocolate and cochineal”
― Voltaire, Candide

“Clearly,” I said, “we should choose not to have good sense, if that good sense contributes to our misery.”

Everyone agreed with me, and yet I found no one who wanted to accept the bargain of becoming ignorant in order to become content. From this I concluded that though we greatly value happiness, we place even greater value on reason.

But yet, upon reflection, it seems that to prefer reason to happiness is to be quite insane.”
― Voltaire

“Never having been able to succeed in the world, he took his revenge by speaking ill of it.”
― Voltaire