If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.
[Si Dieu n’existait pas, il faudrait l’inventer.]
Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer [pseud. of Francois-Marie Arouet]
Poem (1769-03-12), “Epistle to the Author of ‘The Three Imposters [Trois Imposteurs],'” l. 22
(Source)
From "open letter" in verse form, recorded as Epistle 104 "Epître à l'auteur du livre des Trois imposteurs" in Œuvres Complètes de Voltaire, ed. Louis Moland (1877).
The phrase -- as pulled from context by both his critics and his supporters to portray God as a myth used for comfort or control -- is somewhat misunderstood. In the full poem criticizing a 1768 pamphlet he called "grossly atheistic," Voltaire suggests in this and the surrounding lines that humanity and human society are better off believing in a just God who will both punish evildoers and reward the virtuous in the afterlife.
While Voltaire was labeled by his 18th and 19th Century critics as an atheist as well, he was in truth a Deist, as well as an endless critic of what he deemed "superstition," fanaticism, intolerance, and of abuses by church and state under the banner of Christianity.
Voltaire used the phrase a number of times in his life (e.g.), often commenting on how much he took pride in it.
The source of the English translation is unknown, but dates back at least into the mid-19th Century (e.g., 1850). The structure of the quote is often used today in a variety of ways, replacing "God" with some other person, item, or concept that seems indispensable.
See here for more on the "Three Imposters." For further discussion of this quotation, see:
