Voltaire/works/historical

Famous quotes containing the words voltaire, works and/or historical:

    Jesus wept; Voltaire smiled. From that divine tear and from that human smile is derived the grace of present civilization.
    Victor Hugo (1802–1885)

    The difference between de jure and de facto segregation is the difference open, forthright bigotry and the shamefaced kind that works through unwritten agreements between real estate dealers, school officials, and local politicians.
    Shirley Chisholm (b. 1924)

    It is hard to believe that England is so near as from your letters it appears; and that this identical piece of paper has lately come all the way from there hither, begrimed with the English dust which made you hesitate to use it; from England, which is only historical fairyland to me, to America, which I have put my spade into, and about which there is no doubt.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)