Voltaire pens famous quotation attributed to Beatrice Hall

Chaim Cohen, Bedfordview

I refer to Mark Oppenheimer’s article “Enabling artistic freedom and tolerance” in last week’s Jewish Report.

He attributes a quotation to Beatrice Evelyn Hall who in reality derived her quotation from François-Marie Arouet known by his nom de plume Voltaire, the French Enlightenment writer historian and philosopher.

The quotation by Voltaire was adapted many years later by Beatrice Hall: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”