Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, 1724
Fontenelle's remark was "there are no ancient histories other than these (Greek) fables", quoted by Helvétius as "we may, after M. de Fontenelle, assert, that history is only a fable, which people consider as true", [by Voltaire in 1768 as "we ought to distrust all ancient histories. Fontenelle ... declared that they were fables agreed upon"], expanded by Bonaparte as "the truth of history? A fable agreed upon", and by Phillips as a "series of lies agreed upon, which we so often mistake for history". Another take on history in Esars Comic Dictionary(1943) included the definitions: "An account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant; Something that never happened, written by a man who wasnt there; A series of lies agreed upon."
