Prejudices are what fools use for reason.
VoltaireRead
When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease or not?
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the indifference of those in power towards the concerns of the common people.
Voltaire's quote reflects on the lack of concern that leaders or those in power often have for the well-being of individuals under their authority. By likening the situation to a highness sending a ship to Egypt without caring about the comfort of the mice on board, he illustrates how those in high positions may be oblivious or apathetic to the struggles of those less fortunate.
Themes
IndifferencePowerConcernLeadershipPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used to emphasize the importance of empathy in leadership during a political debate.
More from Voltaire
All quotes βHe was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead.
VoltaireRead
It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong.
VoltaireRead
It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.
VoltaireRead
We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies - it is the first law of nature.
VoltaireRead
It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one.
VoltaireRead
Similar quotes
Here's an easy way to figure out if you're in a cult: If you're wondering whether you're in a cult, the answer is yes.
Stephen ColbertRead
Of all the statist violations of individual rights in a mixed economy, the military draft is the worst. It is an abrogation of rights. It negates manβs fundamental right-the right to life-and establishes the fundamental principle of statism: that a manβs life belongs to the state, and the state may claim it by compelling him to sacrifice it in battle. Once that principle is accepted, the rest is only a matter of time.
Ayn RandRead
Of what use are all the codes in the world, if by means of confidential reports, if for trifling reasons, if through anonymous traitors any honest citizen may be exiled or banished without a hearing, without a trial?
Jose RizalRead
Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life. . . . If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.
Teresa Of AvilaRead
History teaches, perhaps, very few clear lessons. But surely one such lesson learned by the world at great cost is that aggression, unopposed, becomes a contagious disease.
Jimmy CarterRead
Religion is a conceited effort to deny the most obvious realities.
H. L. MenckenRead