Voltaire Quote - Liberty Quotes Blog

"Many are destined to reason wrongly;
others, not to reason at all; and
others to persecute those who do reason."

by:	Voltaire [Fran�ois Marie Arouet] (1694-1778) French�Enlightenment�writer, historian, and�philosopher
Source:	Philosophical Dictionary, 1764
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Categories:	Conscience, Free Thought, Persecution, Reason
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Reader comments about this quote:

We all reason rightly and wrongly at different times, that is being human. I mostly and sadly agree with the last phrase. -- Waffler, Smith, Arkansas
-- jim k, austin
Persecution is force, not reason, and is used by those who either fail to reason or ignore reason for their own gain. No one is destined to reason wrongly. Faulty reasoning is either caused by willfully ignoring facts or having incomplete knowledge of the facts; that is, it is either malevolence or ignorance. In the end, however, ignorance and malevolence can lead to the same misery. -- Ken, Allyn, WA
Today's government spends the majority of its resources on 'enforcement' -- it's so much easier and effectively silences reason. You can hire gorillas to intimidate -- finding intelligent and reasonable folks is harder and doesn't result in enough seizures and obedience. When we allow ourselves to be dumbed-down, we invite the police state. -- E Archer, NYC
And today there is no change... He who sits by quietly in the comfort of their chattels and does nothing while his fellow man is being persecuted is just as guilty. -- RobertSRQ
-- Mike, Norwalk
-- warren, olathe