Voltaire Quotes on God
Francois-Marie Arouet, known by his pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher famous for his wit and his advocacy of civil liberties. This page collects quotes attributed to Voltaire on the topic of god, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”
Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer. -
“Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy, the mad daughter of a wise mother. These daughters have too long dominated the earth.”
1760s | "Whether it is useful to maintain the people in superstition," Treatise on Toleration (1763) -
“I die adoring God, loving my friends, not hating my enemies, and detesting superstition.”
1770s | Déclaration de Voltaire, note to his secretary, Jean-Louis Wagnière (28 February 1778) -
“If there were only one religion in England there would be danger of despotism, if there were two they would cut each other's throats, but there are thirty, and they live in peace and happiness.”
1730s | Letters on England , letter 6, "On the Presbyterians", trans. Leonard Tancock (Penguin Books, 1980) p. 41, published first in English in 1733 -
“Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy: a very stupid daughter of a very wise mother.”
A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness(1902) | p. 111 -
“This body which called itself and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.”
1750s | Essai sur l'histoire générale et sur les mœurs et l'esprit des nations, Chapter 70 (1756) -
“La superstition est à la religion ce que l'astrologie est à l'astronomie, la fille très folle d'une mère très sage. Ces deux filles ont longtemps subjugué toute la terre.”
1760s | Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy, the mad daughter of a wise mother. These daughters have too long dominated the earth. "Whether it is useful to maintain the people in supers -
“Religion may be purified . This great work was begun two hundred years ago: but men can only bear light to come in upon them by degrees.”
1760s | The critical review, or annals of literature, Volume XXVI , by A Society of Gentlemen (1768) p. 450 -
“I always made one prayer to God, a very short one. Here it is: "O Lord, make our enemies quite ridiculous!" God granted it.”
1760s | Letter to Étienne Noël Damilaville (16 May 1767) -
“Morality is everywhere the same for all men, therefore it comes from God; sects differ, therefore they are the work of men.”
Dictionnaire philosophique portatif(1764) | "Atheist" (1764)