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I wish that you would crush this infamy.

Je voudrais que vous écrasassiez l'infâme.

Original text (French)

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Source, in full

to D'Alembert June 23, 1760. Attributed to Voltaire by Abbé Barruch—Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism. Generally quoted "Écrasez l'infâme." A. De Morgan contends that the popular idea that it refers to God is incorrect. It refers probably to the Roman Catholic Church, or the traditions in the church.

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God

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There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times.

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Satire lies about literary men while they live and eulogy lies about them when they die.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Voltaire (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.