John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Page 987
| François Marie Arouet de Voltaire. (1694–1778) (continued) |
| 9591 |
| History is little else than a picture of human crimes and misfortunes. 1 |
| L’Ingénu. Chap. x. (1767.) |
| 9592 |
| The first who was king was a fortunate soldier: Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors. 2 |
| Merope. Act i. Sc. 3. |
| 9593 |
| In the best of possible worlds the château of monseigneur the baron was the most beautiful of châteaux, and madame the best of possible baronesses. |
| Candide. Chap. i. |
| 9594 |
| In this country [England] it is well to kill from time to time an admiral to encourage the others. |
| Candide. Chap. xxiii. |
| 9595 |
| The superfluous, a very necessary thing. |
| Le Mondain. Line 21. |
| 9596 |
| Crush the infamous thing. |
| Letter to d’Alembert, June 23, 1760. |
| 9597 |
| There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times. |
| Letter to Cardinal de Bernis, April 23, 1761. |
| 9598 |
| The proper mean. 3 |
| Letter to Count d’Argental, Nov. 28, 1765. |
| 9599 |
| It is said that God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions. 4 |
| Letter to M. le Riche, Feb. 6, 1770. |
| 9600 |
| Love truth, but pardon error. |
| Discours sur l’Homme. Discours 3. |
| Marie de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise Du Deffand. (1697–1780) |
| 9601 |
| He [Voltaire] has invented history. 5 |
| 9602 |
| It is only the first step which costs. 6 |
| In reply to the Cardinal de Polignac. |
| Note 1. See Gibbon, Quotation 1. [back] |
| Note 2. See Scott, Quotation 72. Borrowed from Lefranc de Pompignan’s “Didon.” [back] |
| Note 3. See Cowper, Quotation 112. [back] |
| Note 4. See Gibbon, Quotation 6. Bussy Rabutin: Lettres, iv. 91. Sévigne: Lettre à sa Fille, p. 202. Tacitus: Historia, iv. 17. Terence: Phormio, i. 4. 26. [back] |
| Note 5. Fournier: L’Esprit dans l’Histoire, p. 191. [back] |
| Note 6. Voltaire writes to Madame du Deffand, January, 1764, that one of her bon-mots is quoted in the notes of “La Pucelle,” canto 1: “Il n’y a que le premier pas qui coûte.” [back] |