2006-12-01 18:07:49 · 3 answers · asked by kuntry_guhl 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Quotations
Allegedly, it was Voltaire, a French satirist in the 17th? century.
BUT...
many scholars attribute it to Denis Diderot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Diderot
2006-12-01 18:15:01 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The quote is frequently attributed to Voltaire, it does not appear in in this form in any of his works. It actually appears in a book *about* Voltaire called "Friends of Voltaire" written in 1906 by Evelyn Beatrice Hall (Publisher Smith Elder & Co. ASIN B0006D6K46. ASIN is similar to an ISBN number. They have a copy for sale on Amazon.com.)
The quote was intended to sum up Voltaire's general attitude.
Hall may have gotten the idea fot it in his letter, which she also translated. In one letter, Voltaire wrote "I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write."
2006-12-01 18:23:32 · answer #2 · answered by shanghaiduck 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Voltaire.
2006-12-01 18:19:56 · answer #3 · answered by stumpyv 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋