Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, deist and philosopher known for his wit, philosophical sport, and defense of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and the right to a fair trial. He was an outspoken supporter of social reform despite strict censorship laws in France and harsh penalties for those who broke them. A satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize Christian Church dogma and the French institutions of his day.

-- From Wikipedia

"I envy the animals' two things: their ignorance of evil to come, and their ignorance of what is said about them"

Indeed. Popped for this quote. Thanks. (Was it Voltaire who said something like: "I may not believe in what you say, but I'll fight for your right to say it"? - something like that). Anybody know?

I'm pretty sure that was Voltaire. He was one of the greats, and I believe in that quote wholeheartedly.

Here is the scoop Michelle:


"The phrase "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" is widely attributed to Voltaire, but cannot be found in his writings. With good reason. The phrase was invented by a later author as an epitome of his attitude. It appeared in The Friends of Voltaire (1906), written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall under the pseudonym S[tephen] G. Tallentyre. ... "

By the way, I consider myself to be one of the freinds od Votaire.

Even with my typing errors.

Thank you Socs. You're a mine of wonderful information. Thanks for letting me know.

We forget how often the things we can take for granted are only recent turns in our self image. Men like Voltaire emerged when the concept of free will was ignored for the sake of applied or actual power. Some of his ideas would both inspire, and contribute to advances in in thought that were accompanied by their direct application to science, and social definition. Much of what he said means as much today as it did then. Not bad if you consider how much everything else has changed. I think Voltaire's opinion was, "I don't believe what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it......but I'd rather not."