"We go to fetch earth from China, as if we had none; stuff, as if we were without stuff; a small herb to infuse into water, as if our climates did not afford simples. In return, which is a very commendable zeal, we are for converting the Chinese; but we should not offer to dispute their antiquity, and tell them that they are idolaters; for, indeed, what would be thought of a capuchin, who, after being kindly entertained at a seat of the Montmorenci's, should go about to persuade them, that they were but newly-made nobles, like secretaries of state, and accuse them of being idolaters, having observed in this seat, two or three of the constable's statues, which they highly value?"
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Voltaire, quoted in The Philosophical Dictionary
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Religion_in_China
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Religion in China
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