Chapter XXIII
Original French
Priere à Dieu.
CE n'est donc plus aux hommes que je m'adresse, c'est à toi, Dieu de tous les êtres, de tous les mondes & de tous les temps, s'il est permis à de faibles créatures perdues dans l'immensité, & imperceptibles au reste de l'Univers, d'oser te demander quelque chose, à toi qui as tout donné, à toi dont les Décrets sont immuables comme éternels. Daigne regarder en pitié les erreurs attachées à notre nature! que ces erreurs ne fassent point nos calamités! Tu ne nous as point donné un cœur pour nous haïr, & des mains pour nous égorger; fais que nous nous aidions mutuellement à supporter le fardeau d'une vie pénible & passagere! que les petites différences entre les vêtements qui couvrent nos débiles corps, entre tous nos langages insuffisants, entre tous nos usages ridicules, entre toutes nos Loix imparfaites, entre toutes nos opinions insensées, entre toutes nos conditions si disproportionnées à nos yeux, & si égales devant toi; que toutes ces petites nuances qui distinguent les atomes appellés hommes, ne soient pas des signaux de haine & de persécution! que ceux qui allument des cierges en plein midi pour te célébrer, supportent ceux qui se contentent de la lumiere de ton soleil! que ceux qui couvrent leur robe d'une toile blanche pour dire qu'il faut t'aimer, ne détestent pas ceux qui disent la même chose sous un manteau de laine noire! qu'il soit égal de t'adorer dans un jargon formé d'une ancienne Langue, ou dans un jargon plus nouveau! que ceux dont l'habit est teint en rouge ou en violet, qui dominent sur une petite parcelle d'un petit tas de la boue de ce monde, & qui possedent quelques fragments arrondis d'un certain métal, jouissent sans orgueil de ce qu'ils appellent grandeur & richesse, & que les autres les voyent sans envie! car tu sais qu'il n'y a dans ces vanités ni de quoi envier, ni de quoi s'enorgueillir.
Puissent tous les hommes se souvenir qu'ils sont freres! qu'ils ayent en horreur la tyrannie exercée sur les ames, comme ils ont en exécration le brigandage, qui ravit par la force le fruit du travail & de l'industrie paisible! Si les fléaux de la guerre sont inévitables, ne nous haïssons pas, ne nous déchirons pas les uns les autres dans le sein de la paix, & employons l'instant de notre existence à bénir également en mille langages divers, depuis Siam jusqu'à la Californie, ta bonté qui nous a donné cet instant!
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation directly from French, reviewed against it. Includes all 25 chapters, Voltaire’s notes and the added Article with six edition references. Article transcription: French Wikisource, Garnier 1879, revision 15479820. Translation and Article: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/.
Prayer to God.
It is no longer to human beings, then, that I turn, but to you, God of all beings, all worlds, and all times—if weak creatures, lost in immensity and imperceptible to the rest of the universe, may dare to ask anything of you, who have given everything, whose decrees are as unchanging as they are eternal. Look with pity on the errors bound to our nature! Let these errors not become our calamities! You did not give us hearts to hate one another, or hands to cut one another’s throats. Let us help one another bear the burden of a painful and fleeting life! Let the small differences between the garments covering our frail bodies, between all our inadequate languages, all our ridiculous customs, all our imperfect laws, all our senseless opinions, all our stations in life, so unequal in our eyes and so equal before you—let all these slight shades that distinguish the atoms called human beings not become signals of hatred and persecution! Let those who light candles at midday to honor you tolerate those content with the light of your sun! Let those who cover their robes with white linen to say that we must love you not detest those who say the same beneath a cloak of black wool! Let it be all the same whether we worship you in a jargon formed from an ancient language or in a newer jargon! Let those whose garments are dyed red or violet, who rule over a tiny portion of a little heap of this world’s mud and possess a few rounded fragments of a certain metal, enjoy without pride what they call greatness and wealth, and let others look upon them without envy! For you know that in these vanities there is nothing to envy, nothing to be proud of.
May all people remember that they are brothers! May they abhor the tyranny exercised over souls as they abominate the robbery that forcibly steals the fruits of labor and peaceful industry! If the scourges of war are inevitable, let us not hate one another, let us not tear one another apart in the midst of peace; and let us use the instant of our existence to bless alike, in a thousand different languages, from Siam to California, your goodness, which has given us that instant!
Plain English translation
Independent, complete machine-assisted Plain English translation directly from French, reviewed against it. All 25 chapters, author’s notes and added Article with six edition references are retained. Article transcription: French Wikisource, Garnier 1879, revision 15479820. Translation and Article: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/.
Prayer to God.
It is no longer to human beings that I speak, but to you, God of all beings, all worlds, and all times—if weak creatures, lost in immensity and invisible to the rest of the universe, may dare to ask anything of you, who have given everything, whose decrees are unchangeable and eternal. Please look with pity on the errors that belong to our nature! Do not let those errors become our disasters! You did not give us hearts to hate one another or hands to cut one another's throats. Help us support one another under the burden of a hard and passing life! May the small differences between the clothes covering our weak bodies, between all our inadequate languages, all our ridiculous customs, all our imperfect laws, all our senseless opinions, and all our social ranks, so unequal in our eyes and so equal before you—may all these slight differences between the atoms called human beings never be signals for hatred and persecution! May those who light candles at midday to honor you tolerate those content with the light of your sun! May those who cover their robes with white linen to say that we must love you never hate those who say the same under coats of black wool! May worshiping you in a jargon formed from an ancient language or in a newer jargon make no difference! May those whose clothes are dyed red or violet, who rule a small part of a small heap of this world's mud and own a few rounded pieces of a certain metal, enjoy without pride what they call greatness and wealth. May others look on them without envy! For you know that in these vanities there is nothing to envy or to be proud of.
May all people remember that they are brothers and sisters! May they abhor tyranny over souls, just as they hate the robbery that forcibly takes the fruits of peaceful work and industry! If the scourges of war are unavoidable, let us not hate or tear one another apart in peacetime. Let us use the moment of our existence, from Siam to California, to praise alike in a thousand different languages your goodness, which gave us that moment!
About this section
Chapter XXIII is part of Treatise on Tolerance by Voltaire. This page sets the French original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 23 of 26 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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