Vault Guide to Finance

The Philosophe

“To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid - one must also be well-mannered.”

Because of François-Marie Arouet’s criticism of the Church, which he had refused to retract before his death, he was denied a Christian burial. He was buried secretly before this prohibition had been announced; his heart and brain embalmed separately.

One of the greatest philosophers in history died in obscurity; buried in secret for fear of sanction. The citizens of France in the 1700s, just like the citizens of Jerusalem and just like the citizens of today, were wildly bi-polar. The Bible says Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem with hymns of praise and palm leaves just days before his crucifixion. Voltaire too, just months before his own death, was welcomed into Paris a hero. Social reformers, regardless of their time, will be made villain and victim.

Voltaire of course was no stranger to the madness of the people he was out to reform; neither did he have a high opinion of them. Quoting Voltaire again:

“I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it."

Was it arrogance for Voltaire to feel superior to the crowds - men he deemed content with conformity? He was disillusioned by the sheepish crowds:

“Men will always be mad, and those who think they can cure them are the maddest of all.” 

He was a man of extraordinary talent, but was surrounded by ‘idiots’ who were more respected and more powerful than him. Of course we can easily attest to his talent today as we have his entire life to reflect on. Visionaries are rarely respected during their lifetime; it is only when we reflect on their life as whole that their genius shows. More often than not, people whom posterity judge as greats will be viewed as trouble makers and sometimes madmen by the people of their time.

His great talent led to great resentment in his heart towards the foolish people he was expected to respect. He was able to derive some satisfaction by verbally thrashing his opponents. Again, rarely would these people be judged as fools by the people of their time; it is only with the blessing of hind sight that I am now able to call them such without controversy.

Kazimierz Dąbrowski hypothesized the existence of positive maladjustment in his theory of Positive Disintegration. He said that it was a good thing to be maladjusted to a systemically flawed society. The sheep that Voltaire had to tolerate each day of his existence would have seen him as an aloof, neurotic snob. Dabrowski would have called him positively maladjusted. We would now call him ahead of his time. 18th Century Paris was of course systemically flawed, just as our current society will be seen as flawed to future generations; and just as Voltaire whom we see as great today was viewed as a miscreant in his day, so too shall the Voltaire’s of our generation be treated. The man, who will be seen as great, will in our time be beaten, battered, exiled and outcast by our society. And if he is too successful in his reformation endeavor, he will be assassinated.