Voltaire's Inspiration?

Voltaire never gave credit to anyone in terms of his inpiration, however he did reflect negative feelings towards the writer Rousseau saying "One feels like crawling on all fours after reading your work." This may be protrayed as a negative form of inspiration.



Another example of this would be Voltaire's crusade itself. Voltaire advocated against corruption, censorship and religious intollerance all his life; these, among other things may be interperated as Muses.



I believe however that Voltaire was an inspiration to himself. Character types such as he are commonly driven to outdo themselves and never to stop until a point is made. A good word for this would be tenacious. People such as he need no inspiration other than their own adamant belief in a cause.