Voltaire Quotes on Love
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 love, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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“Love is of all the passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart, and the body. Le Dernier Volume Des Œuvres De Voltaire: Contes — Comédie — Pensées -— Poésies — Lettres (1862)”
L'amour est de toutes les passions la plus forte, parce qu'elle attaque à la fois la tête, le cœur et le corps. -
“Written by Voltaire in an over-long letter to a friend, quoted to A. P. Martinich in Philosophical Writing: An Introduction , Note to the Second Edition (1996)”
If I had had more time, this letter would have been shorter. -
“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) -
“Pleasure has its time; so, too, has wisdom. Make love in thy youth, and in old age, attend to thy salvation.”
A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness(1902) | p. 50 -
“One dies twice: to cease to live is nothing, but to cease to love and to be loved is an insupportable death.”
A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness(1902) | p. 113 -
“Voltaire inscribed on a statue of Love: "Whoever thou art, behold thy master! He rules thee, or has ruled thee, or will rule thee!"”
A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness(1902) | p. 159 -
“While loving glory so much how can you persist in a plan which will cause you to lose it?”
1750s | Letters of Voltaire and Frederick the Great (New York: Brentano's, 1927), transl. Richard Aldington , letter 130 from Voltaire to Frederick II of Prussia, October 1757 [7]