"politically invisible"

whilst studying for my revolutions exam, i found myself at different moments throughout the day actually affected on an emotional level by the material which i've been reading over. for example, upon reading about the desperation of the peasants in rural France prior to the Great Fear, i caught myself actually feeling sorry for them. and more recently, in reading about French philosophe Voltaire (actual name Francois-Marie Arouet, which is a pretty cool name if you ask me), i actually laughed out loud at some of his actions. "at age 20...he attempted to elope with a young French emigre (their plot was discovered by Voltaire's father, who ordered him back to France). after arriving back in paris, he spent a year imprisoned in the bastille for writing satirical poems about members of the aristocracy. after his release, voltair continued to write undaunted...forced into exile...during Voltaire's three years in england he engaged in study of the english political and judicial systems..." you can see why i am quite enchanted by this Voltaire character. he was witty and clever, a writer, he stood up for his beliefs and did not allow himself to be swayed by the government, and he even made the best of his punishment of being exiled to england. ahh, the things you learn when you're studying.

ps. he was kinda cute, too. look at that cheeky smile. he's totally thinking, "suck it government, i'm superior in my knowledge...but i'm not going to be arrogant, i'll just smile my charming smile and read my books and write satirical poems about members of the aristocracy."