Voltaire (1694-1778)
Voltaire was a French Enlightenment philosopher born François-Marie Arouet. He was an advocate of civil liberties and satirized intolerance, and religious dogma in a time one was punished with censorship, jail, banishment, or worse. Some of my favorite Voltaire quotes translated from French: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes. In the case of news, we should always wait for the sacrament of confirmation.