Voltaire Print

"It is dangerous to be right when the established authorities are wrong." - Voltaire "Il est dangereux d'avoir raison dans des choses où des hommes accrédités ont tort." Voltaire learned early in his writing career about the danger of censorship at the hands of the powerful. When a minor argument with the Chevalier of Rohan resulted in his unlawful imprisonment in the Bastille, he was forced into exile to retain freedom of speech. It was a bargain that has immeasurably benefited the world. While in exile, he wasted no time offending the French "royal censor" (yes, that was a thing) by publishing Lettres philosophiques, which was subsequently banned and burned for criticizing the French monarchy. Voltaire was the father of the Enlightenment, and his name is synonymous with the age. As Hugo said, "To name Voltaire is to characterize the entire eighteenth century." He was the leading progenitor of the principles that have become our modern liberal values - most notably that universal fre