Voltaire
French writer and public activist (1694 to 1778), born François-Marie d'Arouet; a leading figure of the Enlightenment; lived in England from 1726 to 1729.
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What they believe
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In England, one allowed religion would very possibly make government arbitrary, two would set people at each other's throats; with many, all live in peace
If one religion only were allowed in England, the Government would very possibly become arbitrary; if there were but two, the people would cut one another’s throats; but as there are such a multitude, they all live happy and in peace.
gutenberg.orgSaid c. 1733This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These one: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 7 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
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In England, one allowed religion would very possibly make government arbitrary, two would set people at each other's throats; with many, all live in peace
If one religion only were allowed in England, the Government would very possibly become arbitrary; if there were but two, the people would cut one another’s throats; but as there are such a multitude, they all live happy and in peace.
Letters on England (1733 English edition, ed. Henry Morley, 1894) Said c. 1733
Religious wars are a dreadful folly, an abomination reserved for devout preachers of patience and humility
The Romans never knew the dreadful folly of religious wars, an abomination reserved for devout preachers of patience and humility.
Letters on England (1733 English edition, ed. Henry Morley, 1894) Said c. 1733
By resisting their kings, the English alone have limited royal power and built a government that can do good but is restrained from evil
The English are the only people upon earth who have been able to prescribe limits to the power of kings by resisting them; and who, by a series of struggles, have at last established that wise Government where the Prince is all-powerful to do good, and, at the same time, is restrained from committing evil; where the nobles are great without insolence, though there are no vassals; and where the people share in the Government without confusion.
Letters on England (1733 English edition, ed. Henry Morley, 1894) Said c. 1733
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In England trade enriched citizens and made them freer, and that freedom in turn extended commerce and the state's greatness
As trade enriched the citizens in England, so it contributed to their freedom, and this freedom on the other side extended their commerce, whence arose the grandeur of the State.
Letters on England (1733 English edition, ed. Henry Morley, 1894) Said c. 1733
A merchant who enriches the country is more useful to a nation than a fashionable lord who fawns at court
However, I need not say which is most useful to a nation; a lord, powdered in the tip of the mode, who knows exactly at what o’clock the king rises and goes to bed, and who gives himself airs of grandeur and state, at the same time that he is acting the slave in the ante-chamber of a prime minister; or a merchant, who enriches his country, despatches orders from his counting-house to Surat and Grand Cairo, and contributes to the well-being of the world.
Letters on England (1733 English edition, ed. Henry Morley, 1894) Said c. 1733
Had smallpox inoculation been practised in France, it would have saved thousands of lives
The Chinese, indeed, do not communicate this distemper by inoculation, but at the nose, in the same manner as we take snuff. This is a more agreeable way, but then it produces the like effects; and proves at the same time that had inoculation been practised in France it would have saved the lives of thousands.
Letters on England (1733 English edition, ed. Henry Morley, 1894) Said c. 1733
Respect is owed to those who lead minds by the force of truth, not to conquerors who enslave their fellow creatures
That man claims our respect who commands over the minds of the rest of the world by the force of truth, not those who enslave their fellow-creatures: he who is acquainted with the universe, not they who deface it.
Letters on England (1733 English edition, ed. Henry Morley, 1894) Said c. 1733
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