Nicolas de Largillière's Portrait de François-Marie Arouet, dit Voltaire (1694–1778), Palace of Versailles
Nicolas de Largillière’s Portrait de François-Marie Arouet, dit Voltaire (1694–1778), Palace of Versailles

Today, I thought about life. I do this whenever a crossroad appears in front of my eyes. Has this also happen to you?

When it happens to me, I have a few moments of stillness, then the cogwheels in my brain suddenly begin working.

As images of past events that shaped my life had once again saturated my mind, I suddenly remembered him… the writer who influenced me so much.

I was 13 when I first held in my small hands one of Voltaire’s books… Candide. My young heart immediately fell in love with his writing.

I do not even recall what Candide was about. I never read it again. I am wondering now… maybe it is time to reread it.

However, regardless of whether I remembered the action or not, I remember the moment when Voltaire entered in my life. It was like a stroke for my brain… it was like a revelation for my mind… like an invitation for my heart.

I started to collect quotes from his books. His words filled each hidden corner of my bedroom. Wherever you wanted to sit, or to look, or to touch… a quote was also lying there. This fed my soul when I was 13.

He was probably my first love as a writer. And, since we can’t forget our first love, I never forgot Voltaire. As years passed by, my heart trembled for many other writers but, Voltaire was always here… in my heart and mind.

Voltaire… a pen name chose for François-Marie Arouet

He was a gifted writer, generating works for plays, poems, novels, essays, including historical and scientific documents. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets.

No… I don’t intend now, to compete with so many experts, researchers and historians who wrote about Voltaire. You can find details about him, here.

I will also not make comments on Voltaire’s words, nor will I confirm how each one guided me.

The pleasure of seeing behind his lines… I’ll let that for you to do.

Enjoy!

13 Quotes that Guided me through Life

  1. Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.

  2. I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.

  3. Faith consists in believing, when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.

  4. The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.

  5. Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.

  6. Man is free at the moment he wishes to be.

  7. It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.

  8. Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.

  9. Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes.

  10. The safest course is to do nothing against one’s conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.

  11. Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause.

  12. The secret of being a bore… is to tell everything.

  13. There are truths that are not for all men, nor for all times.

 
A few notes:

  • I took the quotes from Brainy Quotes. The notes I wrote so long ago are not with me anymore… too many moves and changes since then have taken place.

  • Why 13? Simply because I love 13 and because it is the age when I met him.

  • Why Lighthoused?

  • I know, I know! The word does not exist. “So what?” I am asking now.

  • Did you know about Shakespeare? He invented many of the common words the English speakers are using. He coined those words for his own special use to express his own special meanings.

  • Therefore… let me coin my own words… even if I am not on the same level as Shakespeare. Should I add a “yet” here? Who knows what life will bring? Until we will know, let me coin my own words, for my special needs, to express my own meanings.

Do you also have quotes that have guided you through life?

I would love to know more about them.

Grammarly Writing Support

5 COMMENTS

  1. Being an aphorist myself, I have of course a great love of aphorisms and quotations. The earliest ones I remember were Biblical quotes, especially some from the Book Of Ecclesiastes:

    “A living dog is better than a dead lion.”

    “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

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