Voltaire

Author profile

born

in Paris, France

November 21, 1694

died

May 30, 1778

website

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/voltaire/

genre

Philosophy, Literature & Fiction, History

About this author

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François-Marie Arouet, better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, deist and philosopher known for his wit, philosophical sport, and defense of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and free trade.

Voltaire was a prolific writer, and produced works in almost every literary form, authoring plays, poetry, novels, essays, historical and scientific works, over 20,000 letters and over two thousand books and pamphlets.

He was an outspoken supporter of social reform despite strict censorship laws and harsh penalties for those who broke them. A satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize Catholic Church dogma and the French institutions of his day.

His views of non-western peo...more

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Voltaire's Books

Average rating: 3.75 · 86,893 ratings · 3,178 reviews · 276 distinct works · Similar authors

	Candide 3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 avg rating — 78,176 ratings — published 1759 — 443 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Candide and Other Stories by Voltaire, Roger Pearson (Translator) 3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 1,828 ratings — published 1759 — 40 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Zadig 3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 1,280 ratings — published 1747 — 69 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Candide, Zadig and Selected Stories by Voltaire, Donald Murdoch Frame, John Iverson (Introduction) 4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 avg rating — 739 ratings — published 1961 — 19 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Philosophical Dictionary by Voltaire, Theodore Besterman (Editor, Translator) 4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 avg rating — 575 ratings — published 1764 — 47 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Letters on England by Voltaire, Leonard Tancock (Introduction) 3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 avg rating — 623 ratings — published 1733 — 55 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Micromegas by Voltaire, Theo Cuff (Preface) 3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 avg rating — 562 ratings — published 1752 — 32 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	L'Ingenu 3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 avg rating — 474 ratings — published 1767 — 34 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Zadig/L'Ingénu by Voltaire, John Butt (Translator) 3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 avg rating — 309 ratings — published 1767 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Portable Voltaire by Voltaire, Ben Ray Redman (Editor) 4.16 of 5 stars 4.16 avg rating — 219 ratings — published 1949 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Voltaire…

Quotes by Voltaire

“Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.”
― Voltaire

tags: dance, dancing, reading

5,014 people liked it

“‎Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”
― Voltaire

tags: inspirational

2,597 people liked it

“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”
― Voltaire

tags: double-standards, ethics, governments, humor, irony, killing, law, mankind, morality, murder, nationalism, nations, war

1,328 people liked it

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Polls

Classic Read July - August 2012
Deadline 6/29/12

Happy Voting :)

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

5 votes, 31.3%

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

3 votes, 18.8%

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

2 votes, 12.5%

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

2 votes, 12.5%

Candide by Voltaire

2 votes, 12.5%

The Complete Claudine: Claudine at School; Claudine in Paris; Claudine Married; Claudine and Annie by Colette

1 vote, 6.3%

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

1 vote, 6.3%

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

0 votes, 0.0%

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

0 votes, 0.0%

A Vocation and a Voice: Stories by Kate Chopin

0 votes, 0.0%

16 total votes

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Voltaire

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