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The Dutch fetishes who converted me tell me every Sunday that the blacks and whites are all children of one father, whom they call Adam. As for me, I do not understand anything of genealogies; but if what these preachers say is true, we are all second cousins; and you must allow that it is impossible to be worse treated by our relations than we are.

The Dutch fetishes who converted me tell me every Sunday that the blacks and whites are all children of one father, whom they call Adam. As for me, I do not understand anything of genealogies; but if what these preachers say is true, we are all second cousins; and you must allow that it is impossible to be worse treated by our relations than we are.
Voltaire

Approximate author period: c. 1736 AD · early modern

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Attribution & collection notes
Author or tradition
Voltaire
Attribution: unknown
Country attributed
Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.
Historical period
Approximate author period: c. 1736 AD · early modern
Approximate historical context for attribution to Voltaire, based on life years 1694 to 1778. Introduction identifies Voltaire, 1694–1778. The midpoint is only a historical grouping point; no partial match to other people with Voltaire in their name is permitted. Source: Voltaire — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/voltaire/ (checked 2026-10-09). This does not establish the composition date or authenticate the attribution of these words.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken.
Recorded source
Contributor-provided quotation collection

Supplied reference C; CSV row 127961; supplied attribution, independently unverified

A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.