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“If one person believes something illogical, he is called a fool - but if ten million people believe the same illogical thing, it is called religion.” - Voltaire Voltaire, born François-Marie Arouet in Paris in 1694, became one of the most prominent intellectual figures of the Enlightenment. Throughout his life, he challenged religious intolerance, superstition, and the influence organized religious institutions held over political affairs. His criticism emerged during a period when religious authorities could suppress literature, imprison those who disagreed, and persecute individuals for their beliefs. Yet Voltaire was not an atheist. He generally embraced deism, believing in a rational creator while rejecting many established religious doctrines and institutions. His opposition was primarily directed at fanaticism: the abandonment of critical thinking, the persecution of others, and the unquestioning acceptance of ideas simply because powerful institutions or large groups supported them. This distinction is important when examining the quotation attributed to him. The idea that widespread acceptance does not automatically make a belief reasonable closely reflects Voltaire’s philosophical outlook. However, a statement aligning with someone’s ideas does not establish that they actually said it. Like numerous quotations incorrectly credited to Einstein, Churchill, and Mark Twain, this saying appears to have circulated online under Voltaire’s name without reliable evidence of its origin. Its association with a celebrated thinker may have helped give it an appearance of authenticity. Voltaire himself experienced the consequences of challenging authority. In 1717, he was imprisoned in the Bastille for nearly a year after composing satirical verses mocking the regent who governed France.