“All men would then be necessarily equal, if they were without needs. It is the poverty connected with our species which subordinates one man to another. It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.”
Tous les hommes seraient donc nécessairement égaux, s’ils étaient sans besoins. La misère attachée à notre espèce subordonne un homme à un autre homme: ce n’est pas l’inégalité qui est un malheur réel, c’est la dépendance.
"Equality" (1764)
Citas, Dictionnaire philosophique (1764)
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Voltaire167
French writer, historian, and philosopher 1694–1778Related quotes
Vladimir Lenin book The State and Revolution
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Alexis De Tocqueville book Democracy in America
Often misquoted as: Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.
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