VoltaireVoltaire, [François Marie Arouet] (1694-1778) French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher

Voltaire Quote

“Many are destined to reason wrongly; others, not to reason at all; and others to persecute those who do reason.”

VoltaireVoltaire
~ Voltaire

Philosophical Dictionary, 1764

Ratings and Comments


Waffler, Smith, Arkansas

We all reason rightly and wrongly at different times, that is being human. I mostly and sadly agree with the last phrase.

Ken, Allyn, WA

Persecution is force, not reason, and is used by those who either fail to reason or ignore reason for their own gain. No one is destined to reason wrongly. Faulty reasoning is either caused by willfully ignoring facts or having incomplete knowledge of the facts; that is, it is either malevolence or ignorance. In the end, however, ignorance and malevolence can lead to the same misery.

E Archer, NYC

Today's government spends the majority of its resources on 'enforcement' -- it's so much easier and effectively silences reason. You can hire gorillas to intimidate -- finding intelligent and reasonable folks is harder and doesn't result in enough seizures and obedience. When we allow ourselves to be dumbed-down, we invite the police state.

RobertSRQ
  • Reply
RobertSRQ    9/3/08

And today there is no change... He who sits by quietly in the comfort of their chattels and does nothing while his fellow man is being persecuted is just as guilty.

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