Prejudices are what fools use for reason.
VoltaireRead
Verses which do not teach men new and moving truths do not deserve to be read.
Interpretation
Writing should convey impactful and enlightening truths to be worthy of attention.
In this quote, Voltaire emphasizes the importance of literature and writing in imparting significant and transformative ideas to readers. He suggests that if a text fails to present new insights or provoke deeper thought, it loses its value and relevance, urging authors to focus on creating meaningful content that can inspire and educate.
In practice
During an academic lecture on the importance of literature.
Prejudices are what fools use for reason.
He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead.
It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong.
It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.
We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies - it is the first law of nature.
It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one.
Excellent warriors are not violent.
It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow.
The liberation of the human mind has never been furthered by dunderheads; it has been furthered by gay fellows who heaved dead cats into sanctuaries and then went roistering down the highways of the world, proving to all men that doubt, after all, was safe - that the god in the sanctuary was finite in his power and hence a fraud. One horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms. It is not only more effective; it is also vastly more intelligent.
The mind always hankers for more and more. If you have money, it hankers for more money; if you have prestige, it hankers for more prestige; if you have knowledge, it hankers for more knowledge. Mind lives in the 'more.'
We prematurely write off people as failures. We are too much in awe of those who succeed and far too dismissive of those who fail.
Hustlers of the world, there is one mark you cannot beat: the mark inside.
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