Voltaire



 VOLTAIRE  François Marie Arouet (1694- 1778)  "I have lived eighty years of life and know nothing for it, but to be resigned and tell myself that flies are born to be eaten by spiders and man to be devoured by sorrow." -Voltaire  = The Life of Voltaire  <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; text-align: center; display: block;"> =

<span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">Francois Marie Arouet (Voltaire) was raised by a middle class Parisian family. His father was a lower level treasury official, and his mother well connected in the social environment. Francois was educated by the Jesuits in the college Louis-le-Grand on the outskirts of Paris, France. He then studied law from 1711 to 1713, soon becoming the French Ambassador's assistant in Holland; before going on to write many stories, plays and political criticism that would land him in exile on more than one occasion. His works include: **Stories** 1747 Zadig 1748 Vision de Babouc 1749 Memnon 1752 Micromégas 1759 Candide 1764 The Tale of Two Genies 1764 Jeannot et Colin 1768 La Princesse de Babylone **Plays** 1718 Oedipe 1732 Zaïre 1734 Adélaïde et Guesclin 1735 The Death of Caesar 1736 The Tragedy of Alzira 1741 Mahomet, ou le Fanatisme 1743 Mérope 1755 The Chinese Orphan 1778 Irène **Criticism** 1733 Lettres philosophiques 1764 Commentaires sur Corneille **Poetry** 1728 La Henriade 1755 La Pucelle **Other** 1731 Histoire de Charles XII 1751 Le Siècle de Loius XIV 1759–63 Historie de l'empire de Russie sous Pierre le Grande 1764 Dictionnaire philosophique 1765 Philosophie de l'histoire 1768 Précis du siècle de Louis XIV

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; font-size: 11px; text-align: center; display: block;"> =<span style="font-size: 150%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"> Beliefs     = > >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;">He Believed that all people were evil and needed to be treated that way.
 * Animals are superior to man in that they have no knowledge of death.
 * "God is always on the side of the big battalions."
 * "History is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes."
 * "All men are born with a nose and ten fingers, but no one was born with a knowledge of god."
 * "It is dangerous to be right on matters in witch the established authorities are wrong."
 * He believed tat the Roman CAtholic Church was crossing their limitations, and overbearing the established governments.
 * He also spoke out several times against the French government itself. Witch led him to be exiled.
 * Voltaire believed very strongly in the concept of "free will".

__NOTEBOOK ACTIVITY__ Voltaire very strongly believed that the french government was flawed. He believed in freedom of speech, and that the state and church should be separated. State one flaw and one accomplishment of our USA government and explain. You could talk about the war in iraq, or the signing of the constitution. Be creative!