Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Voltaire


"I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it". Here is a quote by François-Marie Arouet, a very famous French writer and philosopher, better known by the Pen name of Voltaire. This statue of him, located on the rue Mazarine in the 6th arrondissement, is not far from this famous restaurant where he and his cohorts of the period spent time discussing the state of French affairs, politics, religion and humour. I highly recommend you take a few moments to read more about him and tell me if you think his views were much different than many we hear today.

17 comments:

  1. Very apposite at a time when our basic freedoms are being encroached on from all sides.

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  2. What a fart young smeller. I'll have to take a raincheck on the reading -still working at half past midnight. Groan. Hi Ham though!

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  3. This place opened up in the 16th century? Wow. They sure have been in business a long time, uh.

    Hey, you're right, Voltaire was kind of a cool guy!

    "French writer, satirist, the embodiment of the 18th-century Enlightenment. Voltaire is remembered as a crusader against tyranny and bigotry..." More at:

    http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/voltaire.htm

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  4. I'm not sure I could claim to be committed "to the death", but to the principle and, it does worry me too that we find ourselves having to defend these same civil liberties all over again. We thought we'd almost civilized the world once.

    Thank you Ham for increasing my vocabulary today. Had to look up "apposite". :)

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  5. Ah, a pleasant trip to one of my favorite spots - I stayed on the rue Mazarine on my first trip to Paris a few years ago, just a few steps from Mssr Voltaire, and a friend took us to lunch at le Procope - wonderful! Thank you for showing me this!

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  6. Ah, so that was Voltaire who said that. I thought it was one of our patriots such as Alexander Hamilton or Patrick Henry. Perhaps they stole the line. (Gotta admit, it's catchy!)

    I love everything about St. Germain, so why not a Voltaire statue there? I believe the statue of Dante is not far (??) and Marat was assassinated nearby, somewhere.

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  7. Of course, Voltaire wrote Candide. It was required reading when I went to high school.

    Please link my daily photo blog, palmspringsdailyphoto.blogspot.com to yours, and thanks so much.

    Great work here!

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  8. Yes, perhaps my country's current administration could learn a thing or two from Monsieur Voltaire...

    Glad to hear that a restaurant that old is still good - I'll have to add it to my list. Speaking of which, where is Johnny P. these days? I miss his posts!

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  9. Have you noticed, in the same garden, the little marble bust of Montesquieu. Amazingly, the garden is named neither after Voltaire nor Montesquieu but after another guy I've never heard about (sorry I don't the name here). Have you noticed ?
    Concerning Le Procope… well, very nice place but I must say I was very disappointed with the cooking, just average, nothing to say from the Profiterolles you regret to have chosen after a first mouthfull…

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  10. Well, Voltaire certainly had good taste, on our recent holiday my other half and I enjoyed a wonderful meal at Le Procope. Today's post has made me smile - thank you!

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  11. A timeless figure and a nice photo of him.

    Today—
    Their beaks close, their eyes shut and their heads flop over the edge of the nest.
    American Robin series starts today in Brookville Daily Photo.

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  12. oh le Procope!! i've brought my little american cousine there for lunch once recently with help of guidebook... very nice decoration!! the meal was ok.

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  13. Nice photo Eric. Beautiful statue. Keep it up ! Sab..

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  14. Next time I'm in the VIeme I'm going to march into the Procope and slap somebody for having a web site that instantly maximises my browser window. Terrible, terrible (and NOT in the French sense of the word)

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  15. Well Jeff, I've always heard it was Voltaire who said that, but, of course, it's such a great line that everyone wishes he said it first I suppose.

    Thank GG, and all the others who went to Procope, for the food review. I passed by this restaurant several times but never had any meal there. From what some of you seem to say, the scenery is more worth the visit than the food...

    And, GG, no, I did not notice the Montesquieu bust I must say.

    Pont girl. I hear Johnny is in France at the moment. He should be in Paris this weeend...

    PS: Lynn>>> quit reading, go to bed!

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  16. Ah! You chose my favorite quote! I had that quote from Voltaire in my email signature for a long time after Congress passed the "Patriot" Act!

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  17. Voltaire did not say, "I do not agree with what you say" etc. You will not find it anywhere in his volumes. His biographer during the first have of the 20th century thought he should have said it. In other words, he (the biographer) made it it up.

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