Common Sense Is Not So Common

This aphorism appears in Voltaire's Dictionnaire philosophique (Philosophical Dictionary, 1764), a subversive compendium of short articles attacking religious superstition, political tyranny, and philosophical dogma. The Dictionnaire was immediately banned and burned in Geneva, Paris, and Rome. Voltaire's remark on common sense reflects a recurring theme in his work: reason is not a rare gift but an ordinary faculty suppressed by poor education, clerical authority, and social conformity. Frederick the Great, who admired and corresponded with Voltaire for decades, kept a copy of the Dictionnaire in his library at Sanssouci.