If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.

Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer.

Voltaire

More information about this quote

Topic

Existence of God God

Author

Voltaire

Source

Letter to the Author of The Three Imposters

Medium

Letter

Language

French

Time

1768 1760s 18th century

Occupation

Philosopher Writer

From

France Europe

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Voltaire. Épître à l'Auteur du Livre des Trois Imposteurs [Letter to the author of The Three Impostors]. 10 Nov. 1770.

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A quote by Voltaire about existence of god: “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by Voltaire

If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?

Voltaire

Candide

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More information about this quote
Topic
Problem of evil

Author

Voltaire
Source
Candide
Medium
Novel
Genre
Satire
Statement Type
Question
Language
French
Time
1759 1750s 18th century
Era
Age of Enlightenment
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Voltaire. Candide, ou l'Optimisme [Candide: or, All for the Best]. Geneva: Gabriel Cramer, 1759, ch. 6.

Current Citation

Voltaire. Candide, edited by Nicholas Cronk. W. W. Norton & Company, 2016, ch. 6.

Another quote from the 1760s

The king, moreover, is not only incapable of doing wrong, but even of thinking wrong: he can never mean to do an improper thing: in him is no folly or weakness.

William Blackstone

Commentaries on the Laws of England

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More information about this quote
Topic
Monarchy Legal theory

Author

William Blackstone
Source
Commentaries on the Laws of England
Medium
Treatise
Genre
Legal writing
Language
English
Time
1765 1760s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Blackstone, William. Commentaries on the Law of England: Book the First. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1765, ch. 7.

Current Citation

Blackstone, William. Commentaries on the Laws of England: Book I Of the Rights of Persons, edited by David Lemmings. Oxford University Press, 2016, ch. 7.

Another quote about God

An honest God is the noblest work of man.

Robert G. Ingersoll

More information about this quote
Topic
God and man Nature of God Existence of God God

Author

Robert G. Ingersoll
Language
English
Time
1874 1870s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Ingersoll, Robert Green. "The Gods." c. 1872. Lecture.

Another quote originally in French

Religious insanity is very common in the United States.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Democracy in America

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More information about this quote
Topic
Religion in America America

Author

Alexis de Tocqueville
Source
Democracy in America
Genre
Political literature
Language
French
Time
1840 1840s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. De La Democratie en Amerique [Democracy in America]. Vol. 2, London: Saunders and Otley, 1840, sect. 2, ch. 12.

Current Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II, translated by Henry Reeve. Bantam Classics, 2000, vol. 2, sect. 2, ch. 12.