Quote:
Originally Posted by Spock
I am already good friends and acquainted with many of you, so it will be really enjoyable doing this. Those that have had a conflict of thought with me in the past can be assured that it was nothing but a healthy debate. I respect the difference of thought and self-expression.
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Well said Spock...always remember the following saying...
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
(Though these words are regularly attributed to Voltaire, they were first used by Evelyn Beatrice Hall, writing under the pseudonym of Stephen G Tallentyre in The Friends of Voltaire (1906), as a summation of Voltaire's beliefs on freedom of thought and expression.
Another possible source for the quote was proposed by Norbert Guterman, editor of "A Book of French Quotations," who noted a letter to M. le Riche (February 6, 1770) in which Voltaire is quoted as saying:
"Monsieur l'abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write" ("Monsieur l'abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerai ma vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire"). This remark, however, does not appear in the letter.)