Character Sketch - Voltaire

Voltaire - The Laughing Philosopher

I wonder how many of us are aware of this name - Voltaire. Probably some us may have heard of him. When I go into a bookstore, even a big bookstore like Landmark, where they have thousands of books of all kinds - literature, philosophy and the latest self-help books, I hardly see any of his works, except for the delightful Candide. And I wonder how come he's not there.

His works fill ninety-nine volumes, of which every page is sparkling and fruitful, though they range from subject to subject across the world as fitfully and bravely as in an encyclopedia. Voltaire, who can be easily read by the young as well the old and who stands as an entertainer in a class apart from others, is not to be seen there. Someone said that when the right sense of historical proportion is more fully developed in men’s minds, the name of Voltaire will stand out like the names of the great decisive movements in the human history. Perhaps that time has not yet come. I suppose if we do not read him now (though many have been formed to subtlety and wisdom by pouring over his pages) it is because the battles he fought for us no longer interest us intimately; the very thoroughness of his victory over superstition and tyranny make dead those issues which he found alive.

The name of Voltaire, his works, inspires in me, if I can use that word, a sense of awe, reverence and an unspeakable joy. What a spirit! – sheer intelligence transmuting anger into fun, fire and light. “A creature of air and flame, the most excitable that ever lived, composed of more ethereal and throbbing atoms than those of other men; there is none whose mental machinery is more delicate, nor whose equilibrium is at the same time more shifting and more exact.” Imagine a man writing on everything, and producing a classic nonetheless. “Some men can be prolix in one small volume; Voltaire is terse through a hundred.” Never was philosophy phrased so clearly, and with such life. Voltaire writes so well that one doesn’t realize he is writing philosophy. “My trade is to say what I think,” said Voltaire; and what he thought was always worth saying, and what he said was always said incomparably well. He was called the laughing philosopher. “In Voltaire’s hands, “ said Anatole France, “the pen runs and laughs.”

François-Marie Arouet, better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, historian, naturalist and philosopher known for his wit, philosophical sport, and defense of civil liberties, including freedom of religion. He was an outspoken supporter of social reform despite strict censorship laws and harsh penalties for those who broke them. Contemporary with one of the greatest of centuries, he was the soul and essence of it. To name Voltaire,” said Victor Hugo, “is to characterize the entire eighteenth century”. Italy had renaissance, Germany had reformation, but France had Voltaire. His age is also called the Age of Voltaire or the Age of Reason. Never had a writer in his lifetime such influence. Despite exile, imprisonment, and suppression of almost all his books, he forged a path fiercely for his truth until at last kings, popes and emperors catered to him, thrones trembled before him, and half the world listened to catch his every word.

You may think that I have placed this man too high. Let me tell you what Goethe, the great German, said of this man:

"If you wish depth, genius, imagination, taste, reason, sensibility, philosophy, elevation, originality, nature, intellect, fancy, rectitude, facility, flexibility, precision, art, abundance, variety, fertility, warmth, magic, charm, grace, force, an "eagle sweep" of vision, vast understanding, instruction, rich tone, excellent, urbanity, suavity, delicacy, correctness, purity, clearness, eloquence, harmony, brilliancy, rapidity, gaiety, pathos, sublimity and universality, perfection indeed, behold Voltaire."

“My fear is that I shall die before I have rendered service”, he used to say; but surely he has done more than his share. The records of his generosity are endless. Everyone, far or near claimed his good offices, people consulted him, related the wrongs of which they were victims, and solicited the help of his pen and credit. Poor people guilty of some misdemeanor were his especial care; he would secure a pardon for them and set them up in some honest occupation, meanwhile watching and counseling them. He fought for many people who were the victims of superstition or corruption when no one else would. “The little good that I have done”, he said, “is my best work. When I am attacked I fight like a devil; I yield to one; but at the bottom I am a good devil, and I end by laughing.”

His Works
Next to Candide, which belongs to a later period of Voltaire's life, the best of these tales is Zadig. Zadig was a Babylonian philosopher, "as wise as it is possible for men to be...he knew as much of metaphysics as hath ever been known in any age, - that is little or nothing at all".In defending his love, he is wounded in one eye.

"A messenger is dispatched to great Egyptian physician Hermes, who came with a numerous retinue. He visited Zadig and declared that the patient would lose his eye. He even foretold the day and hour when this would happen. "Had it been the right eye", said he, "I could easily have cured it; but the wounds of the left eye are incurable". All Babylon lamented the fate of Zadig, and admired the profiund knowledge of Hermes. In two days, the abscess broke of its own accord, and Zadig was perfectly cured. Hermes wrote a book to prove that it ought not to have healed. Zadig did not read it."

Zadig can be read here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18972/18972-h/18972-h.htm

Most of Voltaire's other works as well as commentaries on his works and life can be found at:
http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php&person=3804

His major works are:

• Candide
• Zadig
• Micromegas
• The Philosophical Dictionary
• Letters concerning the English Nation

Contributing Author: Ashutosh Ghildiyal is a salaried professional based in Mumbai, India. He was born in Lucknow in 1984, where he completed his schooling. He completed his graduate studies in New Delhi and his post-graduate education in Mumbai. He is the author of To Think or Not to Think and Other stories (Book), various blogs and short stories. Email: ashutoshghildiyal@hotmail.com