# ID this quote? Voltaire, perhaps?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-quote-voltaire-perhaps/711315>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 30, 2015, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-quote-voltaire-perhaps/711315 "2015-01-30T06:52:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-quote-voltaire-perhaps/711315/1 "2015-01-30T06:52:37Z")

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There’s an old joke, widely attributed to Voltaire but I doubt it: “Vagrancy laws are perfectly fair. They forbid rich and poor alike from sleeping under bridges.”

Can anyone give me a better source and translation?

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**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-quote-voltaire-perhaps/711315/2 "2015-01-30T07:04:23Z")

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[Wikiquote says Anatole France.](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anatole_France)

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**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-quote-voltaire-perhaps/711315/3 "2015-01-30T08:15:52Z")

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Great, thanks!