A — Amour
Original French
Amor omnibus idem. Il faut ici recourir au physique, c’est l’étoffe de la nature que l’imagination a brodée. Veux-tu avoir une idée de l’amour? Voi les moineaux de ton jardin, voi tes pigeons, contemple le taureau qu’on amène à ta genisse, regarde ce fier cheval que deux de ses valets conduisent à la cavale paisible qui l’attend & qui détourne sa queue pour le recevoir, voi comme ses yeux étincellent, entends ses hennissements, contemple ces sauts, ces courbettes, ces oreilles dressées, cette bouche qui s’ouvre avec de petites convulsions, ces narines qui s’enflent, ce souffle enflammé qui en sort, ces crins qui se relèvent & qui flottent, ce mouvement impétueux dont il s’élance sur l’objet que sa nature lui a destiné; mais ne sois point jaloux, & songe aux avantages de l’espèce humaine; ils compensent en amour tous ceux que la nature a donnés aux animaux, force, beauté, légèreté, rapidité.
Il y a même des animaux qui ne connaissent point la jouissance. Les poissons écaillés sont privés de cette douceur; la femelle jette sur la vase des millions d’œufs; le mâle qui les rencontre, passe sur eux & les féconde par sa semence, sans se mettre en peine à quelle femelle ils apartiennent.
La plupart des animaux qui s’accouplent ne goûte de plaisir que par un seul sens, & dès que cet appétit est satisfait, tout est éteint. Aucun animal, hors toi, ne connaît les embrassements; tout ton corps est sensible; tes lèvres surtout jouissent d’une volupté que rien ne lasse, & ce plaisir n’appartient qu’à ton espèce; enfin, tu peux dans tous les temps te livrer à l’amour, & les animaux n’ont qu’un temps marqué. Si tu réfléchis sur ces prééminences, tu diras avec le Comte de Rochester, L’amour dans un pays d’Athées, ferait adorer la Divinité.
Comme les hommes ont reçu le don de perfectionner tout ce que la nature leur accorde, ils ont perfectionné l’amour. La propreté, le soin de soi-même, en rendant la peau plus délicate, augmente le plaisir du tact, & l’attention sur sa santé rend les organes de la volupté plus sensibles.
Tous les autres sentiments entrent ensuite dans celui de l’amour, comme des métaux qui s’amalgament avec l’or: l’amitié, l’estime viennent au secours; les talents du corps & de l’esprit font encor de nouvelles chaînes.
Nam facit ipsa suis interdum fæmina factis,Morigerisque modis & mundo corpori cultuUt facile insuescat secum vir degere vitam.
Lucrèce Liv. V.
L’amour propre surtout resserre tous ces liens. On s’applaudit de son choix, & les illusions en foule font les ornements de cet ouvrage dont la nature a posé les fondements.
Voilà ce que tu as au-dessus des animaux; mais si tu goutes tant de plaisirs qu’ils ignorent, que de chagrins aussi, dont les bêtes n’ont point d’idée! Ce qu’il y a d’affreux pour toi, c’est que la nature a empoisonné dans les trois quarts de la terre les plaisirs de l’amour, & les sources de la vie, par une maladie épouvantable, à laquelle l’homme seul est sujet, & qui n’infecte que chez lui les organes de la génération!
Il n’en est point de cette peste comme de tant d’autres maladies qui sont la suite de nos excès. Ce n’est point la débauche qui l’a introduite dans le monde. Les Phriné, les Laïs, les Flora, les Messalines n’en furent point attaquées; elle est née dans des Iles où les hommes vivaient dans l’innocence, & de là elle s’est répanduë dans l’ancien monde.
Si jamais on a pû accuser la nature de mépriser son ouvrage, de contredire son plan, d’agir contre les vuës, c’est dans cette occasion. Est-ce là le meilleur des mondes possibles? Eh quoi, si César, Antoine, Octave, n’ont point eu cette maladie, n’était-il pas possible qu’elle ne fit point mourir François I.? Non, dit-on, les choses étaient ainsi ordonnées pour le mieux; je le veux croire, mais cela est dur.
Musean translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation of the 73 articles in the 1764 first edition, made directly from the French and reviewed against the scan-collated French text. The author’s notes, quotations and verse are retained. Historical ethnic labels, including offensive terms, are retained from the 1764 text.
Love is the same for all. Here we must turn to the physical: it is nature’s fabric, embroidered by imagination. Do you want some idea of love? Watch the sparrows in your garden, watch your pigeons, contemplate the bull brought to your heifer. Look at that proud horse led by two of his grooms to the peaceful mare who awaits him and turns her tail aside to receive him. See how his eyes sparkle; hear his neighing; contemplate those leaps, those prancing steps, those pricked ears, that mouth opening in little convulsions, those swelling nostrils and the fiery breath issuing from them, that mane rising and floating, that impetuous movement as he flings himself upon the object nature has destined for him. But do not be jealous. Think of humankind’s advantages: in love they compensate for all those nature has given animals—strength, beauty, agility, speed.
There are even animals that know no sexual enjoyment. Scaled fish are denied this sweetness. The female casts millions of eggs upon the mud; the male, happening upon them, passes over and fertilizes them with his seed, without troubling himself about which female they belong to.
Most animals that mate taste pleasure through a single sense, and once that appetite is satisfied, everything is extinguished. No animal but you knows embraces. Your whole body is sensitive; your lips above all enjoy a pleasure nothing tires, and that pleasure belongs to your species alone. Finally, you can give yourself to love at any time, while animals have only an appointed season. If you reflect on these privileges, you will say with the Earl of Rochester: “In a land of atheists, love would make people worship the Divinity.”
Since human beings have received the gift of perfecting everything nature grants them, they have perfected love. Cleanliness and care of oneself, by making the skin more delicate, increase the pleasure of touch; attention to health makes the organs of pleasure more sensitive.
All other feelings then enter into love, like metals alloyed with gold. Friendship and esteem lend their aid; the gifts of body and mind are further chains.
For sometimes a woman herself, by her actions,Her yielding ways and the clean care of her body,Makes a man readily grow used to life with her.
Lucrèce Liv. V.
Self-love above all tightens these bonds. We congratulate ourselves on our choice, and a crowd of illusions ornaments this work whose foundations nature laid.
Such are your advantages over animals. But if you taste so many pleasures unknown to them, how many sorrows too, of which beasts have no idea! What is dreadful for you is that, across three quarters of the earth, nature has poisoned the pleasures of love and the springs of life with a terrible disease to which man alone is subject, and which infects the organs of generation in him alone!
This plague is not like so many other diseases that follow from our excesses. Debauchery did not introduce it into the world. The Phrynes, Laises, Floras, and Messalinas were not attacked by it. It arose in islands where people lived in innocence, and from there spread through the Old World.
If nature could ever be accused of despising her own work, contradicting her plan, acting against her own purposes, it is here. Is this the best of possible worlds? What! If Caesar, Antony, and Octavian did not have this disease, was it not possible that it should not kill Francis I? “No,” we are told, “things were thus ordered for the best.” I am willing to believe it, but it is hard.
Plain English translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Plain English translation of the same 73 articles, made directly from the French and reviewed against the scan-collated French text. The author’s notes, quotations and verse are retained. Historical ethnic labels, including offensive terms, are retained from the 1764 text.
Love is the same for everyone. Here we have to consider the physical side. Nature supplied the cloth; imagination has embroidered it. Do you want to understand love? Watch the sparrows in your garden and your pigeons. Look at the bull being taken to your heifer. Watch the proud horse whose two grooms lead him to the quiet mare waiting for him. She moves her tail aside to receive him. Look at his shining eyes and listen to his neighing. See him leap and prance, with his ears upright, his mouth opening in little spasms, his nostrils widening and hot breath coming out of them. His mane lifts and streams as he throws himself eagerly onto the partner nature has chosen for him. Do not envy him. Think of the advantages human beings have. In love they make up for all the advantages nature gave animals: strength, beauty, agility, and speed.
Some animals do not experience sexual pleasure at all. Fish with scales do not have that enjoyment. The female lays millions of eggs on the mud. A male comes across them, swims over them, and fertilizes them with his semen. He does not care which female laid them.
Most animals that mate enjoy pleasure through only one sense. Once that desire has been satisfied, it is all over. No other animal knows embraces as you do. You feel things throughout your body. Your lips, especially, can enjoy a pleasure that nothing exhausts. Only your species has that pleasure. You can also make love at any time, while animals have a fixed season for it. Consider these advantages, and you will agree with the Earl of Rochester: “In a country of atheists, love would make people worship God.”
People have the gift of improving everything nature gives them, so they have improved love too. Keeping clean and looking after yourself make your skin more delicate, increasing the pleasure of touch. Caring for your health makes the organs that give pleasure more sensitive.
All the other feelings become part of love, as other metals mix with gold. Friendship and respect strengthen it. Physical and mental abilities create more bonds.
Sometimes a woman herself, through what she does,Her readiness to please and the cleanliness of her body,Makes a man easily get used to living with her.
Lucrèce Liv. V.
Above all, self-love draws all these bonds tighter. We feel pleased with our choice. A whole crowd of illusions decorates the work that nature laid the foundations for.
These are your advantages over animals. But along with all the pleasures they do not know, you have so many troubles that they cannot imagine! The dreadful thing is that in three quarters of the world, nature has poisoned love’s pleasures and the sources of life with a terrible disease. Only human beings suffer from it, and only in them does it infect the reproductive organs.
Unlike many other diseases, this plague did not result from excessive behavior. Sexual excess did not bring it into the world. Women like Phryne, Lais, Flora, and Messalina did not catch it. It began on islands whose people lived innocently, then spread from there to the Old World.
If there was ever a reason to accuse nature of despising her own creation, contradicting her plan, and working against her own intentions, this is it. Is this the best of all possible worlds? Caesar, Antony, and Octavian did not have this disease. Could it not also have been prevented from killing Francis I? “No,” people tell us. “Everything was arranged this way for the best.” I want to believe that, but it is hard.
About this section
A — Amour is part of Pocket Philosophical Dictionary by Voltaire. This page sets the French original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is article 4 of 73 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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