Voltaire Quotes

Men who are lovers of wisdom [i.e., philosophers] must be inquirers into many things.

Philosophy is in fact a quest for wisdom based in sophia; that quest for wisdom has everything to do with a love of wisdom.

The inquiry of truth, which is the love-making, or the wooing of it, the knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human nature.

Our understanding of the world around us is constantly being redefined and expanded, and so therefore, it is wiser to be passionate about seeking for truth than knowing it.

Were one merely to seek information, one should inquire of the man who hates, but if one wishes to know what truly is, one better ask the one who loves.

I am a humble but very earnest seeker after truth.

Rightly defined philosophy is simply the love of wisdom.

The ultimate aim of the human mind, in all its efforts, is to become acquainted with Truth.

True philosophy invents nothing; it merely establishes and describes what is.

The inquiry, knowledge, and belief of truth is the sovereign good of human nature.

Science is what you know. Philosophy is what you don't know.

Happy is the one who knows the causes of things.

The ultimate freedom depends on knowing the ultimate Truth. Truth is not what people say it is, it is what it is. And Truth, quite remarkably, sets one free, just like philosophers have said down the ages.

So that the lover of myths, which are a compact of wonders, is by the same token a lover of wisdom.

A philosopher's a lover of wisdom.

This sense of wonder is the mark of the philosopher. Philosophy indeed has no other origin.

Those who know the TRUTH are not equal to those who love it.

The supreme guide in life is knowledge.

If there were no falsehood in the world, there would be no doubt, if there were no doubt, there would be no inquiry; if no inquiry, no wisdom, no knowledge, no genius; and Fancy herself would lie muffled up in her robe, inactive, pale, and bloated.

Some people say, "How can you live without knowing?" I do not know what they mean. I always live without knowing. That is easy. How you get to know is what I want to know.

Then may we not fairly plead in reply that our true lover of knowledge naturally strives for truth, and is not content with common opinion, but soars with undimmed and unwearied passion till he grasps the essential nature of things with the mental faculty fitted to do so, that is, with the faculty which is akin to reality, and which approaches and unites with it, and begets intelligence and truth as children, and is only released from travail when it has thus reached knowledge and true life and satisfaction?

The Greek word for philosopher (philosophos) connotes a distinction from sophos. It signifies the lover of wisdom (knowledge) as distinguished from him who considers himself wise in the possession of knowledge. This meaning of the word still endures: the essence of philosophy is not the possession of the truth but the search for truth. ... Philosophy means to be on the way. Its questions are more essential than its answers, and every answer becomes a new question.

No doubt those who really founded modern science were usually those whose love of truth exceeded their love of power.

It has often occurred to me that a seeker after truth has to be silent.