By Natural Philosopher Michael Alan Prestwood
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TIMELINE STORY

Voltaire (1694-1778)

  • Last Updated: 1 year ago
From Year 0 (BCE/CE): 1694
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Voltaire (1694-1778)

The transformation of François-Marie Arouet into Voltaire: From a budding scholar in Paris, to a prisoner of ideas in the Bastille, to a celebrated playwright whose words ignited the Enlightenment.

Voltaire (1694-1778)

13 Generations Ago

30 Phil, Chapter 26: Voltaire and Modern Journalism
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.
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  • Epictetus
  • 108 CE
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