Chapter VI
Original French
Si l'Intolérance est de droit naturel & de droit humain.
LE droit naturel est celui que la nature indique à tous les hommes. Vous avez élevé votre enfant, il vous doit du respect comme à son pere, de la reconnaissance comme à son bienfaicteur. Vous avez droit aux productions de la terre que vous avez cultivée par vos mains, vous avez donné & reçu une promesse, elle doit être tenue.
Le droit humain ne peut être fondé en aucun cas que sur ce droit de nature; & le grand principe, le principe universel de l'un & de l'autre, est dans toute la terre: Ne fais pas ce que tu ne voudrais pas qu'on te fît. Or, on ne voit pas comment, suivant ce principe, un homme pourrait dire à un autre: Crois ce que je crois & ce que tu ne peux croire, ou tu périras: c'est ce qu'on dit en Portugal, en Espagne, à Goa. On se contente à présent dans quelques autres Pays de dire: Crois, ou je t'abhorre; crois, ou je te ferai tout le mal que je pourrai; monstre, tu n'as pas ma Religion, tu n'as donc point de Religion; il faut que tu sois en horreur à tes voisins, à ta Ville, à ta Province.
S'il était de droit humain de se conduire ainsi, il faudrait donc que le Japonois détestât le Chinois, qui aurait en exécration le Siamois; celui-ci poursuivrait les Gangarides, qui tomberaient sur les Habitants de l'Indus; un Mogol arracherait le cœur au premier Malabare qu'il trouverait; le Malabare pourrait égorger le Persan, qui pourrait massacrer le Turc; & tous ensemble se jetteraient sur les Chrétiens, qui se sont si long-temps dévorés les uns les autres.
Le droit de l'Intolérance est donc absurde & barbare; c'est le droit des tigres; & il est bien plus horrible: car les tigres ne déchirent que pour manger, & nous nous sommes exterminés pour des paragraphes.
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/.
Whether intolerance is sanctioned by natural law and human law.
Natural law is the law that nature makes known to all people. You have raised your child: he owes you respect as his father, gratitude as his benefactor. You have a right to the produce of the land you have cultivated with your own hands. You have given and received a promise: it must be kept.
Human law can never rest on any foundation but this law of nature; and the great principle, the universal principle of both, throughout the earth, is: “Do not do what you would not want done to you.” Now it is hard to see how, following this principle, one person could say to another: “Believe what I believe, and what you cannot believe, or you will perish.” This is what is said in Portugal, Spain, and Goa. In some other countries people are now content to say: “Believe, or I abhor you; believe, or I will do you all the harm I can. Monster, you do not have my religion, so you have no religion. Your neighbors, your city, your province must look on you with horror.”
If human law sanctioned such conduct, then the Japanese would have to detest the Chinese, who would loathe the Siamese; the Siamese would persecute the Gangarides, who would fall upon the inhabitants of the Indus. A Mogul would tear the heart from the first Malabari he found; the Malabari could slaughter the Persian, who could massacre the Turk; and all together would fall upon the Christians, who have devoured one another for so long.
The right to intolerance is therefore absurd and barbarous; it is the right of tigers—and far more horrible, for tigers tear only to eat, while we have exterminated one another over paragraphs.
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/.
Whether intolerance is justified by natural law and human law.
Natural law is what nature points out to all human beings. You have brought up your child. He owes you respect as his father and gratitude as his benefactor. You have a right to the produce of land you have cultivated with your own hands. You have given and received a promise; it must be kept.
Human law can never be based on anything but this law of nature. The great principle, the universal principle of both, everywhere on earth, is: “Do not do what you would not want done to you.” Now, it is hard to see how, under this principle, one person could say to another: “Believe what I believe, and what you cannot believe, or you will die.” That is what people say in Portugal, Spain, and Goa. In some other countries today, they are content to say: “Believe, or I will hate you. Believe, or I will do you all the harm I can. You monster, you do not have my religion, so you have no religion. Your neighbors, your city, and your province must regard you with horror.”
If human law authorized such behavior, then the Japanese would have to detest the Chinese, who would loathe the Siamese. The Siamese would persecute the Gangarides, who would attack the inhabitants of the Indus. A Mogul would tear the heart out of the first person from Malabar he found. A person from Malabar could cut a Persian's throat, and the Persian could massacre a Turk. All of them together would fall on the Christians, who have spent so long devouring one another.
The supposed right to intolerance is therefore absurd and barbarous. It is the right of tigers—and much more horrible, because tigers tear apart only to eat, while we have exterminated one another over paragraphs.
About this section
Chapter VI 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 6 of 26 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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