Happy Birthday

Happy birthday, Voltaire. He is one of my top picks for a historical figure who would add the most to the modern world, were he alive today. I mean,

"Men will always be mad, and those who think they can cure them are the maddest of all."

"It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong."

"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets."

"A witty saying proves nothing."

(He was also the guy who gave us this turn of phrase: "This agglomeration which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.")

More quotes.