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| Dear Yahoo!: |
| Who said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"? |
Will
San Francisco, California |
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| Dear Will: |
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This eloquent defense of tolerance and freedom of speech is widely attributed to the French writer Voltaire, that master of liberal philosophy renowned for his satirical wit. François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire was his nom de plume) was one of the most celebrated writers of the 18th-century intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment. His tolerant religious and political beliefs were in sharp opposition to established views, and his biting commentaries twice led to his imprisonment,
and eventually, to his exile to England. But the fact of the matter is, Voltaire didn't pen or utter the sentiment you quote. According to a number of web sites, "The phrase was invented by a later author as an epitome of his attitude." It comes from The Friends of Voltaire, written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall and published in 1906 under the pseudonym Stephen G. Tallentyre. Hall said that she paraphrased Voltaire's words in his "Treatise on Toleration," which includes such thoughts as: Not only is it extremely cruel to persecute in this brief life those who do not think the way we do, but I do not know if it might be too
presumptuous to declare their eternal damnation. The issues Voltaire addressed are surprisingly contemporary and as relevant today as in 18th-century France. Now we'd love to discuss the matter further, but we must go cultivate our garden...
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