Popular quotes: The meaning an history behind "To limit the
press is to insult a nation; to prohibit reading of certain
books is to declare the inhabitants to be either fools or
slaves." "To limit the press is to insult a nation; to prohibit
reading of certain books is to declare the inhabitants to be
either fools or slaves." - Claude Adrien Helvetius French
philosopher Claude Adrien Helvétius was born in Paris in 1715.
After holding the exceedingly profitable post of farmer-general
(tax collector) for some years he retired to the country in 1751
where he devoted himself to writing and philanthropy. He is
remembered for his hedonism (his 1758 book, De lesprit, drew the
condemnation of both the Pope and the Parlement of Paris). Like
Locke, Helvétius believed that all men are born with equal
ability and that distinctions develop from education, and that
through education all human problems could be solved. He died in
1771. U.S. ebook sales up in 2012, but rate of growth is
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