Voltaire quote in Mason and Dixon

[sZ]

>>>I have a couple of questions:  1) Did Voltaire actually say or write
something the same or similar to the two quotes up above, and if so, what
was it (French is fine...)?<<<

You can search the Web for the history of the Shitting Duck quote made by
Voltaire.

Pynchon's variant reads something like:

Le More is probably a reference to French love (l'amour), and the Pynchonian
variation on the quote attributed to Voltaire might be:

"Without the voice of Love and the fabricated duck of Vaucanson, there is
nothing you can do to remember the glory of France."