"Épître à l'Auteur du Livre des Trois Imposteurs" (English title: "Letter to the Author of The Three Impostors") is an epistle in verse form written by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

and published in 1770 (see 1770 in poetry). It is a letter to the anonymous writers and publishers of the '' Treatise of the Three Impostors''. It contains one of the most famous Voltaire quotes, "If God hadn't existed, it would have been necessary to invent him." This quote itself was countered by the 19th-century anarchist Mikhail Bakunin during his exile in his book '' God and the State'' with "If God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish him."God and the State
Michael Bakunin, 1882

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1770 books 1770 poems Poetry by Voltaire Letters (message) {{Poem-stub