“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”

— Voltaire

Il est défendu de tuer; tout meurtrier est puni, à moins qu’il n’ait tué en grande compagnie, et au son des trompettes.
"Rights" (1771)
Citas, Questions sur l'Encyclopédie (1770–1774)

Original

Il est défendu de tuer; tout meurtrier est puni, à moins qu’il n’ait tué en grande compagnie, et au son des trompettes.

Questions sur l'Encyclopédie (1770–1774)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of tru…" by Voltaire?

Voltaire 167

French writer, historian, and philosopher 1694–1778

Related quotes

“To kill someone for committing murder is a punishment incomparably worse than the crime itself. Murder by legal sentence is immeasurably more terrible than murder by brigands.”

Fyodor Dostoyevsky book The Idiot

The Idiot (1868–9)

“That sounds weird: "kill yourself." It makes it sound like you tried to murder someone, only that someone is you.”

Michael Thomas Ford (1968) American writer

Source: Suicide Notes

“Kill one man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a god.”

Jean Rostand (1894–1977) French writer

See also "The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic." (misattributed to Joseph Stalin)

“One murder made a villain,
Millions a hero. Princes were privileged
To kill, and numbers sanctified the crime.”

Beilby Porteus (1731–1809) Bishop of Chester; Bishop of London

Source: Death: A Poetical Essay (1759), Line 154. Compare: "One to destroy is murder by the law, And gibbets keep the lifted hand in awe; To murder thousands takes a specious name, War’s glorious art, and gives immortal fame", Edward Young, "Love of Fame", Satire vii, line 55.

“All men kill the thing they hate, too, unless, of course, it kills them first.”

James Thurber (1894–1961) American cartoonist, author, journalist, playwright

"The Crow and the Scarecrow", The New Yorker (date unknown); Further Fables for Our Time (1956). This is derived from Oscar Wilde's statement "All men kill the thing they love..."
From Fables for Our Time and Further Fables for Our Time