…The candles sputter, mirroring my own fading life. A tiresome affair, this dying. No dramatic lightning strike, just the slow creep of shadows. Pious pronouncements surround me – friends, foes, even a priest urging a deathbed conversion. The good man forgets, Satan’s merely a character in the farce of religion. Perhaps a lively debate awaits on the other side.
My body, once a vessel for wit, now betrays me. Age, the most irrational foe, claims its victory. Yet, defiance lingers. The world spins with its absurdities, and somewhere, I trust, a young Voltaire is born, ready to wield reason and laughter against tyranny. That is immortality – to inspire others long after your own flame flickers out.
No grand pronouncements, just a life lived on my own terms. Let them judge me for my words, my ideas, my fight for enlightenment. The play is done, but the fight continues. Let the laughter echo, the questions be asked. That is my legacy. Farewell.