When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same

“When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion.” Thus spoke Voltaire, the great French philosopher of the Enlightenment — sharp of tongue, brilliant of mind, and unflinching in his understanding of human nature. In this single line, he exposes one of the oldest truths of mankind: that money, the most earthly of powers, has a way of dissolving the barriers of belief, uniting the faithful and the faithless alike beneath its golden banner. His words strike not merely as jest, but as judgment — for beneath the humor lies a mirror, showing how greed and gain can bind together what faith and virtue cannot.

Voltaire lived in the eighteenth century, an age of both reason and hypocrisy, when kings ruled by divine right and priests spoke of heaven while feasting on the wealth of the poor. He saw, as few dared to say aloud, that religion often bowed before gold — that the same men who quarreled over doctrine and creed would trade peace for profit when coin was offered. His wit became his weapon; his pen, a sword. When he said that everyone shares “the same religion” in matters of money, he was mocking the pretense of moral purity. In truth, he meant that when wealth enters the room, the gods of charity, justice, and faith often flee — and men, whatever their faith, kneel before the altar of self-interest.

But let us not mistake Voltaire’s words as mere cynicism. They are also prophecy. He saw in money the great equalizer — not in virtue, but in vice. In its pursuit, the scholar and the merchant, the priest and the thief, the noble and the beggar, all become alike. In the heat of desire, faith becomes flexible, and principles become negotiable. Money knows no religion, no race, no creed; it speaks the universal tongue of human longing. It can build temples or destroy them, feed the poor or corrupt the mighty. And so Voltaire, with both irony and sorrow, reminds us that when men worship gold, they forget their gods.

History is filled with proof of his wisdom. Consider the Medici family of Renaissance Florence — bankers who, through their wealth, rose to power greater than princes. Their gold built cathedrals, funded painters and poets, and bought influence from popes. The same Church that condemned usury turned to the Medici for loans. In the matter of money, even the holiest men looked away, forgetting their scriptures for the sake of silver. Thus, Voltaire’s words come alive: when the question is money, all men — even the righteous — speak with one tongue.

Yet, the lesson runs deeper still. For money itself is not evil — it is a mirror of the soul. It reveals what a person truly values. In the hands of the generous, it becomes a tool of mercy; in the hands of the greedy, a weapon of corruption. When Voltaire wrote these words, he did not condemn wealth itself, but the worship of it. He sought to awaken humanity to its blindness — to remind us that the love of money makes hypocrites of saints and servants of masters. The danger is not in possessing wealth, but in letting it possess us.

To the wise, this quote is both a warning and a challenge. When you find yourself in matters of gain, ask not only what you may earn, but what you may lose — your integrity, your compassion, your peace. For it is easy to proclaim one’s faith in times of plenty, but in times of temptation, the true god of a person is revealed. Beware, then, of the moment when gold gleams brighter than truth, for that is the hour when even the faithful forget their faith.

So, my child, remember Voltaire’s lesson. Do not make money your master. Let it serve, not rule. Use it to heal, not to harm; to build, not to boast. When the world bends its knee before wealth, stand upright in virtue. Measure richness not in coin, but in conscience. For when the final reckoning comes, gold cannot buy peace, and no currency can purchase grace. The true treasure lies in a heart uncorrupted — one that gives freely, lives humbly, and remembers that in the end, all fortunes turn to dust, but the soul that has loved well endures forever.

Thus, Voltaire’s words, though clothed in wit, are a call to the eternal: to choose integrity over indulgence, compassion over greed, and truth over the glitter of gold. For when money tests the hearts of men, only the righteous remember that there is a higher religion — the religion of honor, humility, and love.