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Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Evelyn Beatrice Hall (1868 - 1919) English writer
- I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
- These words were first used by Hall, writing under the pseudonym of Stephen G. Tallentyre in The Friends of Voltaire (1906), as a paraphrase of Voltaire's attitudes, based on statements in Essay on Tolerance where he asserts: "Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privelege to do so too", but its ultimate origin may lie in a letter to M. le Riche (February 6, 1770): "Monsieur l'abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write."
- The statement was attributed to Voltaire as a 'Quotable Quote' in Reader's Digest (June 1934), but in response to others misattributing it, Hall had declared, perhaps as early as 1907: "I did not mean to imply that Voltaire used these words verbatim and should be surprised if they are found in any of his works." The 1906 paragraph in which the statement first appears reads:
- "On the Mind" [De l'Esprit by Helvétius] became not the success of the season, but one of the most famous books of the century. The men who had hated it and had not particularly loved Helvétius, flocked round him now. Voltaire forgave him all injuries, intentional or unintentional. 'What a fuss about an omelette!' he had exclaimed when he heard of the burning. How abominably unjust to persecute a man for such an airy trifle as that! 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,' was his attitude now.
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