Voltaire, whose birth name was Francois-Marie Arouet, is
well-known for his defense of civil liberties and his ideas about human brotherhood.
The quote that is most often connected to him has to do with this. That is the quote
that goes
I
disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say
it.
However, it is clear that
Voltaire himself never wrote or said this phrase. It is actually a statement of his
values, but not one that he himself said.
One famous quote
that is truly from Voltaire is also on the subject of civil liberties, religious
toleration, and the universal brotherhood of human beings. Voltaire
wrote
I say
that we should regard all men as our brothers. What? The Turk my brother? The Chinaman
my brother? The Jew? The Siam? Yes, without doubt; are we not all children of the same
father and creatures of the same
God?
This quote is not as
well-known as the one that he didn't actually say, but it is a good representation of
the sorts of things that Voltaire believed.
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