Writer · 1694 – 1778
Voltaire
Key Takeaways
- Voltaire was a leading writer and philosopher of the French Enlightenment.
- He championed reason, free speech and religious tolerance.
- His satirical novel Candide is a classic of world literature.
- He helped popularize the science of Newton in France.
Voltaire was the sharpest wit and loudest voice of the Age of Enlightenment. A prolific writer of plays, essays, histories and fiction, he turned his pen into a weapon against tyranny, superstition and intolerance.
Champion of reason and tolerance
Again and again Voltaire attacked religious persecution and judicial cruelty, calling for tolerance, free speech and the rule of reason. His outspokenness landed him in the Bastille and in exile in England — where he absorbed the liberties and the science of Newton, which he then championed for French readers.
Candide
His most enduring work, the satirical novel Candide, skewers naive optimism by dragging its innocent hero through a catalogue of disasters. Funny, savage and profound, it remains a classic of world literature.
Legacy
More than any other figure, Voltaire personified the Enlightenment’s faith in reason and liberty. Admired across Europe — and famously embraced by Benjamin Franklin in Paris — his ideas helped prepare the ground for the French Revolution and remain a touchstone for free thought.
Influence
Voltaire became the emblem of the Enlightenment's commitment to reason, tolerance and free expression, and his writings helped prepare the intellectual ground for the French Revolution.
Legacy
Celebrated as a champion of liberty and reason, Voltaire remains a symbol of free thought; his wit and defense of tolerance still resonate today.
Major Works
- Candide
- Letters on the English
- Treatise on Tolerance
Controversies
- His sharp attacks on the Church and authorities led to imprisonment and exile.
Notable Quotes
“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”
“Common sense is not so common.”
Connections
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Voltaire?
Voltaire (1694–1778) was a French Enlightenment writer and philosopher who championed reason, free speech and tolerance, best known for the satire Candide.
What is Candide about?
Candide is Voltaire's satirical novel that mocks blind optimism, following its naive hero through a series of disasters that test the idea that this is 'the best of all possible worlds'.
Citations & Sources
People Like Voltaire
Isaac Newton
99Isaac Newton was an English physicist and mathematician whose laws of motion and universal gravitation laid the foundation of classical mechanics and the Scientific Revolution.
Why Voltaire admired and helped popularize Newton's science for French readers.
Benjamin Franklin
90Benjamin Franklin was an American polymath — a founding father, scientist, inventor, writer and diplomat — whose work on electricity and statesmanship made him one of the most admired figures of the 18th century.
Why A fellow Enlightenment celebrity; the two famously met and embraced in Paris.
Immanuel Kant
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Why A philosophical contemporary of the Enlightenment's high tide.
Mary Wollstonecraft
85Mary Wollstonecraft was an English Enlightenment writer and philosopher, a pioneer of feminist thought whose A Vindication of the Rights of Woman argued for the education and equality of women.
Why Also a writer & philosopher · Worked in philosophy
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
90Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan-French philosopher, writer, and composer whose ideas on the social contract, the general will, and natural human goodness shaped modern political thought, education, and the Romantic movement.
Why Also a philosopher & writer · Active in the same era
René Descartes
92René Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician and scientist, the "father of modern philosophy", famous for "I think, therefore I am" and for founding analytic geometry.
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