“I sought out the laws which govern nature, solid or ethereal, and after much pondering I perceived that the Universe had not been formed as its pretended Creator would have us believe; I knew that all that exists, exists of itself and not by the caprice of Iahveh; that the world is itself its own creator and the spirit its own God. Henceforth I despised Iahveh for his imposture, and I hated him because he showed himself to be opposed to all that I found desirable and good: liberty, curiosity, doubt.”

French poet, journalist, and novelist

Anatole France was a French poet, journalist, and novelist, and one of the best-known literary figures of his time. He lived from 1844 to 1924 and is remembered for a career that made him, in his day, an ideal of the French man of letters. His books were widely read, and several became best-sellers. He was known for an ironic, skeptical outlook, and for prose marked by elegance and human sympathy. He was a member of the Académie Française, and in 1921 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature for his literary achievement.