And ask each passenger to tell his story, and if there is one of them all who has not cursed his existence many times, and said to himself over and over again that he was the most miserable of men, I give you permission to throw me head-first into the sea.

He broke from the tradition of narrating diplomatic and military events and emphasized customs social history and achievements in the arts and sciences. Fearing an indefinite prison sentence Voltaire suggested that he be exiled to England as an alternative punishment which the French authorities accepted. Nevertheless he continued to write producing essays and historical studies.

[clarification needed] As a satirical polemicist he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance religious dogma and the French institutions of his day. Voltaire was a versatile writer producing works in almost every literary form including plays poems novels essays and historical and scientific works. swa ma.