Voltaire idézet

oldal 6

„A barátság a lélek házassága, és ez a házasság hajlamos a válásra.”

„Gondolj magadra, és hagyd meg másoknak is a jogot, hogy ugyanígy tegyenek!”

„Ahhoz, hogy élvezzük az életet, sok mindent könnyedén meg kell érintenünk.”

„A meditáció a gondolatok feloldódása az örök tudatosságban vagy a tárgyiasítás nélküli Tiszta tudatosságban, a gondolkodás nélküli tudás, a végesség beleolvadása a végtelenbe.”

„Isten megajándékozott minket az élettel; rajtunk múlik, hogy megajándékozzuk magunkat azzal, hogy jól éljünk.”

„Az ember nem kívánhatja azt, amit nem ismer.”

„Igazságot hirdetni, vagy hasznos dolgokat javasolni az embereknek, biztos módja annak, hogy üldözzenek minket.”

„Kell gondolkozni; ha nincs gondolat,
bár lelke van, az ember léte aljas;
kell szeretni, célt, értelmet ez ad:
az emberélet enélkül siralmas.”

„Az emberek aszerint ragaszkodnak hitükhöz, amint megszenvednek érte.”

„Nem tudom elfogadni, hogy minél többet gondolkozik az ember, annál boldogtalanabb. Ez csak azokra vonatkoztatva igaz, akik tévesen gondolkoznak.”

„Ha nem volna Isten, fel kellene találni.”

„Egyszer megkérdezték Voltaire-től, megbékélt-e Istennel. „Köszönni köszönünk egymásnak” - válaszolta a filozófus - „de nem beszélünk egymással”.”

„Nincs az a rossz, amiből ne születne valami jó.”

„A férfiak minden okoskodása sem ér fel egy asszony egyetlen érzelmével.”

„Akinek látszunk, arról mindenki ítélhet, amilyenek valóban vagyunk, arról senki sem.”

„A munka megóv minket a három fő rossztól: a szegénységtől, az unalomtól és a bűntől.”

„Furcsa egy szenvedély az, amellyel egynémely urak mindenképpen meg akarnak győzni minket arról, hogy nyomorultak vagyunk. Nem szeretem azt a kuruzslót, aki el akarja hitetni velem hogy beteg vagyok, azért, hogy eladja nekem a pirulát.”

„A kétségbeesés már sokszor nyert csatát.”

„Nem értek egyet azzal, amit mondasz, de halálomig harcolni fogok azért, hogy mondhasd.”

„Vallás dolgában mindig a lelkesedés kezdi meg az építést, de az ügyeskedés fejezi be.”

„Minden műfaj jó, kivéve az unalmas műfajt.”

„Mi az optimizmus? Konokul azt állítani, hogy minden jól van, amikor rosszul vagyunk.”

„A teológia a vallásokban az, ami a méreg az élelmiszerekben.”

„Egyáltalán nincs véletlen: minden megpróbáltatás büntetés vagy jutalom vagy előrelátás.”

„Nem a szerelmet kell vaknak festeni, hanem az önhittséget.”

„Az igazi lángész kiváltsága, hogy büntetlenül követhet el nagy hibákat.”

„Zúzzátok szét a gyalázatost! (az egyházról)”

„A háború, néhány év múltán, éppoly szerencsétlenségbe dönti a győzteseket, mint a legyőzötteket.”

„Igazságot hirdetni, vagy hasznos dolgokat javasolni az embereknek, biztos módja annak, hogy üldözzenek minket.”

„Az élőknek méltányossággal tartozunk, a holtaknak csak az igazsággal.”

„Az elmés mondások többnyire ismétlések.”

„Azok a történészek, akik megjósolják a jövőt, méltatlanok arra, hogy megírják a múltat.”

„Felőlem mind sirathatják a balgák
a mult időket, az arany korát,
Saturnus s Rhea földi birodalmát,
ősszüleinknek paradicsomát.
Én a természetnek elégedetten
adok hálát, hogy e korban születtem.
Mit ócsárl nálunk sok bús lázadó,
profán korunk erkölcsömnek való.
Szeretem fényét, sőt a puhaságát,
örömeit, miket müvészi báj ád,
tisztaságát, ízlését, csínjait,
s minden fiát, ki így gondolkozik.”

„Soha nem élünk; mindig az élet várakozásában vagyunk.”

„Minél tovább rágódunk a szerencsétlenségünkön, annál nagyobb a hatalma, hogy kárt okozzon nekünk.”

“William Penn, when only fifteen years of age, chanced to meet a Quaker in Oxford, where he was then following his studies. This Quaker made a proselyte of him; and our young man, being naturally sprightly and eloquent, having a very winning aspect and engaging carriage, soon gained over some of his companions and intimates, and in a short time formed a society of young Quakers, who met at his house; so that at the age of sixteen he found himself at the head of a sect. Having left college, at his return home to the vice-admiral, his father, instead of kneeling to ask his blessing, as is the custom with the English, he went up to him with his hat on, and accosted him thus: "Friend, I am glad to see thee in good health."”

“You have already heard that the Quakers date their epoch from Christ, who, according to them, was the first Quaker. Religion, say they, was corrupted almost immediately after His death, and remained in that state of corruption about sixteen hundred years. But there were always a few of the faithful concealed in the world, who carefully preserved the sacred fire, which was extinguished in all but themselves; till at length this light shone out in England in 1642.
It was at the time when Great Britain was distracted by intestine wars, which three or four sects had raised in the name of God, that one George Fox, a native of Leicestershire, and son of a silk-weaver, took it into his head to preach the Word, and, as he pretended, with all the requisites of a true apostle; that is, without being able either to read or write. He was a young man, about twenty-five years of age, of irreproachable manners, and religiously mad. He was clad in leather from head to foot, and travelled from one village to another, exclaiming against the war and the clergy.”

“I opened with that which good Catholics have more than once made to Huguenots. "My dear sir," said I, "were you ever baptized?" "No, friend," replied the Quaker, "nor any of my brethren." "Zounds!" said I to him, "you are not Christians then!" "Friend," replied the old man, in a soft tone of voice, "do not swear; we are Christians, but we do not think that sprinkling a few drops of water on a child's head makes him a Christian." "My God!" exclaimed I, shocked at his impiety, "have you then forgotten that Christ was baptized by St. John?" "Friend," replied the mild Quaker, "once again, do not swear. Christ was baptized by John, but He Himself never baptized any one; now we profess ourselves disciples of Christ, and not of John." "Mercy on us," cried I, "what a fine subject you would be for the holy inquisitor! In the name of God, my good old man, let me baptize you."”

“This new patriarch Fox said one day to a justice of peace, before a large assembly of people. "Friend, take care what thou dost; God will soon punish thee for persecuting his saints." This magistrate, being one who besotted himself every day with bad beer and brandy, died of apoplexy two days after; just as he had signed a mittimus for imprisoning some Quakers. The sudden death of this justice was not ascribed to his intemperance; but was universally looked upon as the effect of the holy man's predictions; so that this accident made more Quakers than a thousand sermons and as many shaking fits would have done. Cromwell, finding them increase daily, was willing to bring them over to his party, and for that purpose tried bribery; however, he found them incorruptible, which made him one day declare that this was the only religion he had ever met with that could resist the charms of gold.
The Quakers suffered several persecutions under Charles II; not upon a religious account, but for refusing to pay the tithes, for "theeing" and "thouing" the magistrates, and for refusing to take the oaths enacted by the laws.
At length Robert Barclay, a native of Scotland, presented to the king, in 1675, his "Apology for the Quakers"; a work as well drawn up as the subject could possibly admit. The dedication to Charles II, instead of being filled with mean, flattering encomiums, abounds with bold truths and the wisest counsels. "Thou hast tasted," says he to the king, at the close of his "Epistle Dedicatory," "of prosperity and adversity: thou hast been driven out of the country over which thou now reignest, and from the throne on which thou sittest: thou hast groaned beneath the yoke of oppression; therefore hast thou reason to know how hateful the oppressor is both to God and man. If, after all these warnings and advertisements, thou dost not turn unto the Lord, with all thy heart; but forget Him who remembered thee in thy distress, and give thyself up to follow lust and vanity, surely great will be thy guilt, and bitter thy condemnation. Instead of listening to the flatterers about thee, hearken only to the voice that is within thee, which never flatters. I am thy faithful friend and servant, Robert Barclay."”

“Thus, almost everything is imitation. The idea of The Persian Letters was taken from The Turkish Spy. Boiardo imitated Pulci, Ariosto imitated Boiardo. The most original minds borrowed from one another. Miguel de Cervantes makes his Don Quixote a fool; but pray is Orlando any other? It would puzzle one to decide whether knight errantry has been made more ridiculous by the grotesque painting of Cervantes, than by the luxuriant imagination of Ariosto. Metastasio has taken the greatest part of his operas from our French tragedies. Several English writers have copied us without saying one word of the matter. It is with books as with the fire in our hearths; we go to a neighbor to get the embers and light it when we return home, pass it on to others, and it belongs to everyone”

“I cannot guess what may be the fate of Quakerism in America; but I perceive it loses ground daily in England. In all countries, where the established religion is of a mild and tolerating nature, it will at length swallow up all the rest.”

“There is no God, but don’t tell that to my servant, lest he murder me at night.”

“Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too.”

“Friendship is the marriage of the soul, and this marriage is liable to divorce.”

“Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity.”

“To enjoy life, we must touch much of it lightly.”

“We never live; we are always in the expectation of living.”

“God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.”

“The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.”

“I’ve decided to be happy because it is good for my health.”

“The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.”