quote · Legacy record
I have been studying for forty years, which is to say forty wasted years; I teach others yet am ignorant of everything; this state of affairs fills my soul with so much humiliation and disgust that my life is intolerable. I was born in Time, I live in Time, and do not know what Time is. I find myself at a point between two eternities, as our wise men say, yet I have no conception of eternity. I am composed of matter, I think, but have never been able to discover what produces thought. I do not know whether or not I think with my head the same way that I hold things with my hands. Not only is the origin of my thought unknown to me, but the origin of my movements is equally hidden: I do not know why I exist. Yet every day people ask me questions on all these issues. I must give answers, yet have nothing worth saying, so I talk a great deal, and am confused and ashamed of myself afterwards for having spoken.
I have been studying for forty years, which is to say forty wasted years; I teach others yet am ignorant of everything; this state of affairs fills my soul with so much humiliation and disgust that my life is intolerable. I was born in Time, I live in Time, and do not know what Time is. I find myself at a point between two eternities, as our wise men say, yet I have no conception of eternity. I am composed of matter, I think, but have never been able to discover what produces thought. I do not know whether or not I think with my head the same way that I hold things with my hands. Not only is the origin of my thought unknown to me, but the origin of my movements is equally hidden: I do not know why I exist. Yet every day people ask me questions on all these issues. I must give answers, yet have nothing worth saying, so I talk a great deal, and am confused and ashamed of myself afterwards for having spoken.
Approximate author period: c. 1736 AD · early modern
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- Author or tradition
- Voltaire
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1736 AD · early modern
Approximate historical context for attribution to Voltaire, based on life years 1694 to 1778. Introduction identifies Voltaire, 1694–1778. The midpoint is only a historical grouping point; no partial match to other people with Voltaire in their name is permitted. Source: Voltaire — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/voltaire/ (checked 2026-10-09). This does not establish the composition date or authenticate the attribution of these words.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 250735; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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