The Young Voltaire Book

1929. Just as Shakespeare's writings possess a different significance for almost every reader, so Voltaire's life is open to an almost infinite variety of interpretations. To capture on paper the essential qualities of his genius becomes a fascinating, if dangerously seductive sport. It is almost like that tantalizing childhood puzzle with which one attempted to roll ten little balls into one compartment; it is a simple matter to get half of them there, but to get them all in together? Voltaire's spirit has the illusiveness of quicksilver.