Voltaire's quote? ("I disagree with what you say, but I defend right to say it")

Wed Feb 8 22:08:48 UTC 2006

I remember reading the attribution to Hall as early as 1966.

  JL

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Subject: Voltaire's quote? ("I disagree with what you say, but I defend
right to say it")
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I've been thinking about this quotation during the cartoon riots. "I diagre=
e=20
with what you say, but I defend to the death your right to say it." It's th=
e=20
principle of free speech in the Western World.
...
Does Fred have it from Voltaire? What's the origin form of the saying?
...
...
...
_http://www.classroomtools.com/voltaire.htm_=20
(http://www.classroomtools.com/voltaire.htm)=20
=20
Voltaire wrote, ....=20
In early 2002, a friend e-mailed me. He asked for help in tracking down a=20
quotation. In part he wrote,=20
I'm getting stumped and can't seem to find what I need on the internet. =20
There is a famous quotation that I can only paraphrase: "I disagree with wha=
t you=20
have to say but will fight to the death to protect your right to say it."=20
Do you have the actual quotation and the author (and maybe the year)?
It seemed like an easy task, just visit _a quotations web site_=20
(http://www.classroomtools.com/refworks.htm#Quotations) and "Voila!". It t=
urned out to=20
be a bit more interesting than that.=20
Here is what my search revealed.=20
1. The Recording Industry Association=20
(_http://web.archive.org/web/20021020063641/http://www.riaa.com/Freedom-Hist=
ory.cfm_=20
(http://web.archive.org/web/20021020063641/http:/www.riaa.com/Freedom-Histor=
y.cfm) ) attributes a quote=20
to Voltaire, and states it as, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will=20
defend to the death your right to say it." =20
2. Another version (http://www.tdstelme.net/~westin/fspeech.htm),=20
attributed to "some Admiral" by a basic training drill sergeant, said, "I m=
ay not=20
agree with what you say, but I will defend with my life your RIGHT to say i=
t."=20
The person who put up this page (Larry Westin), writes a little further=20
down, that he later came to know it was from Voltaire. =20
3. Aphorisms Galore also attributes it to Voltaire=20
(_http://web.archive.org/web/20041010004816/http://www.ag.wastholm.net/aphor=
ism/A-2274_=20
(http://web.archive.org/web/20041010004816/http:/www.ag.wastholm.net/aphoris=
m/A-2274) ), =20
and cites it as, "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall =20
defend, to the death, your right to say it." =20
4. A Google search I ran=20
(_http://www.google.com/search?q=3Dvoltaire+say+it_ (http://www.google.com/s=
earch?q=3Dvoltaire+say+it) ) returned a number of=20
links to pages describing the quote. =20
5. This result=20
(_http://web.archive.org/web/20040225201605/http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~ml=
ewis/q-volt.html_=20
(http://web.archive.org/web/20040225201605/http:/gladstone.uoregon.edu/~mlew=
is/q-volt.html) ), apparently from=20
somebody at the University of Oregon, cites it as follows, "7. I disapprove=
of what=20
you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. {Cited=20
frequently, but possibly spurious}" =20
6. Bartleby.com (_http://www.bartleby.com/66/40/63040.html_=20
(http://www.bartleby.com/66/40/63040.html) ) provides the following citatio=
n:

The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996.=20
NUMBER: 63040 =20
QUOTATION: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death you=
r=20
right to say it. =20
ATTRIBUTION: Voltaire [Fran=C3=A7ois Marie Arouet] (1694=E2=80=931778), Fren=
ch =20
philosopher, author.=20
[note: the first part of the following sentence is missing in the online=20
original]
what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to=20
continue to write.=E2=80=9D =20
Real name Fran=C3=A7ois Marie Arouet.

1. Along the line that the quote may be spuriously attributed to=20
Voltaire (thus explaining why none of the above attribute it to a specific=20=
work or =20
date), is the following found at=20
_http://public.logica.com/~stepneys/cyc/l/liberty.htm_ (http://public.logica=
.com/~stepneys/cyc/l/liberty.htm) =20

Beatrice Hall=20
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to=20
say it.
-- The Friends of Voltaire, 1906

The phrase "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death =20
your right to say it" is widely attributed to Voltaire, but cannot be found=20=
in=20
his writings. With good reason. The phrase was invented by a later author a=
s=20
an epitome of his attitude. It appeared in The Friends of Voltaire (1906),=20
written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall under the pseudonym S[tephen] G. Tallentyre=
. ...=20
=20
Hall wrote: =20
...The men who had hated [the book], and had not particularly loved =20
Helv=C3=A9tius, flocked round him now. Voltaire forgave him all injuries, i=
ntentional or=20
unintentional. 'What a fuss about an omelette!' he had exclaimed when he he=
ard=20
of the burning. How abominably unjust to persecute a man for such an airy=20
trifle as that! 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the dea=
th=20
your right to say it,' was his attitude now. =20
...=20
Hall herself claimed later that she had been paraphrasing Voltaire's words=20
in his Essay on Tolerance: "Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the=20
privilege to do so too." -- _http://www.plexoft.com/SBF/V02.html_=20
(http://www.plexoft.com/SBF/V02.html) =20
I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right=
=20
to mis-attribute this quote to Voltaire.
-- Avram Grumer, rec.arts.sf.written, May 2000

1. Finally, the pertinent section from the page Grumer cites=20
(_http://www.plexoft.com/SBF/V02.html_ (http://www.plexoft.com/SBF/V02.html)=
) that=20
purports to explain how Beatrice Hall came to attribute the quote to Voltai=
re:=20

The phrase ``I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death =20
your right to say it'' is widely attributed to Voltaire, but cannot be found=
in=20
his writings. With good reason. The phrase was invented by a later author a=
s=20
an epitome of his attitude. =20
It appeared in The Friends of Voltaire (1906), written by Evelyn Beatrice=20
Hall under the pseudonym S[tephen] G. Tallentyre. Chapter VII is devoted to=
=20
Helv=C3=A9tius (1715-1771), whom she depicts as a kindly, generous person,=20=
with a=20
hint of more talent to raise him above mediocrity. He married and settled i=
n the=20
sticks, with a new wife who was unfashionably old (32), and they were happy=
.=20
This was ended by his tragic aspiration, to earn some small glory for=20
himself as a philosopher. =20
In 1758, he published ``De l'Esprit,'' which Hall renders ``On the Mind.''=20
>From the little Hall says of it directly, I take it that this was a =20
moral-relativist tract, adducing bad social conditions as the cause of immo=
ral=20
behavior, regarding humans essentially as animals, and skeptical of the val=
idity of=20
moral claims generally. =20
This was unpopular with everyone - secular philosophers, all of the church,=
=20
the government. It certainly got him noticed, but not by all at once.=20
Voltaire immediately regarded the work as a serious disappointment from one=
who had=20
been a somewhat promising protege. He was most insulted to have been compar=
ed=20
in it with lesser intellectual lights (Cr=C3=A9billon and Fontenelle). It w=
as=20
widely criticized by other wits of their enlightened social circle. For a f=
ew=20
months, however, it escaped the notice of the government. =20
Then the Dauphin read it. =20
The privilege to publish was revoked; the censor who approved its =20
publication was sacked. A rolling wave of official condemnation began, culm=
inating with=20
the Pope (Jan. 31, 1759) and the Parliament of Paris (Feb. 6) and public=20
book-burning by the hangman (Feb. 10), an honor shared with Voltaire's ``Na=
tural=20
Law.'' =20
On the principle that anything so unpopular with the government must ipso =20
facto be pretty good, the official condemnation permanently established =20
Helv=C3=A9tius's philosophical repute among the fashionable salon crowd, and=
=20
rehabilitated him among the intellectual elite as well, to a great extent. =20=
He became=20
popular in Protestant Germany and England. =20
Hall wrote: =20
...The men who had hated [the book], and had not particularly loved =20
Helv=C3=A9tius, flocked round him now. Voltaire forgave him all injuries, i=
ntentional or=20
unintentional. `What a fuss about an omelette!' he had exclaimed when he he=
ard=20
of the burning. How abominably unjust to persecute a man for such an airy=20
trifle as that! `I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the dea=
th=20
your right to say it,' was his attitude now. But he soon came, as a Voltair=
e=20
would come, to swearing that there was no more materialism in `On the Mind'=
=20
than in Locke, and a thousand more daring things in `The Spirit of Laws.' =20
(Boldface added here for emphasis.)=20
Friends is not a scholarly work, but Hall is fairly scrupulous throughout =20
the book to state within the text whether she is quoting speech or text, and=
=20
whether various reports are first-person or likely hearsay. I believe it was=
=20
reasonable of her to expect that `I disapprove ... say it' would be recogni=
zed=20
as her own characterization of Voltaire's attitude. I think some readers we=
re=20
confused because of the way she follows this with paraphrases of his spoken=
=20
criticisms. =20
In any case, the phrase was too eloquent, so it became quoted, and famous =20
names attach themselves to quotes, to the detriment of the less well-known =20
originators. =20
Hall herself claimed later that she had been paraphrasing Voltaire's words=20
in his Essay on Tolerance: =20
``Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too.''=20
Hall died in 1919. =20
In his A Book of French Quotations (1963), Norbert Guterman suggested that=20
the probable source for the quotation was a line in a 6 February 1770 lette=
r=20
to M. le Riche: ``Monsieur l'abb=C3=A9, I detest what you write, but I woul=
d give=20
my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.''=20

....
=20

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