A companion piece to Dualisms, Quinones' 2007 book, Erasmus and Voltaire differs in method: where its predecessor looked to inveterate, unyielding differences, this new work looks to similarities.

Ricardo J. Quinones is a professor emeritus in the Department of English at Claremont McKenna College.

Guy Poirier:
‘Subtle and grounded in historical and biographical events … Erasmus and Voltaire: Why They Still Matter is a book to be read by both Renaissance and Enlightenment scholars.’

Eva Brann, Senior Faculty and Dean Emerita, St. John's College:

'Ricardo Quinones, the principal proponent of "Dualisms," that fascinating category of intellectual rivalry, has written a complementary book bringing together figures of similar type living centuries apart. His expectation that this comparison will enhance the importance of both his exemplars, Erasmus and Voltaire, is amply realized.'

Erika Rummel, Department of History, University of Toronto:

'In Erasmus and Voltaire, Ricardo J. Quinones' erudition and soaring thought allow him to offer original insights into the works of these two intellectual giants. By juxtaposing the lived experiences and writings of both Erasmus and Voltaire, this superb study makes one figure a foil for the other and gives depth and piquancy to what is an eloquent interpretation of their lives.'

David M. Hertz, Department of Comparative Literature, Indiana University:

'Extremely worldly and sophisticated, Erasmus and Voltaire both engaged with the most important ideas of their times. Champions of civilization and tradition, they were revolutionary in some ways, but ready to hold the line in contradistinction to the more rebellious ideologues of their time. It is always a pleasure to read the work of Ricardo J. Quinones, and this fine study brings to light the parallel development of these two figures, with a clarity and appeal I have never before seen in writing on either Erasmus or Voltaire.'

Paul Barolsky, Art History, University of Virginia:

'Cultural history, comparative literature, historical typology and intellectual history all in one, Erasmus and Voltaire is Ricardo J. Quinones's summa—an impassioned celebration of two literary giants. In a series of powerful and close readings of Erasmus and Voltaire, Quinones reflects on the modern condition with penetrating ancillary commentaries that range from Shakespeare to Thomas Mann. Writing with the urgency and fervor of a pamphleteer, the author calls for a restoration of the courage, benevolence, imagination, gradualism, sanity, and ultimate illumination that we discover in his two subjects. This is a book that should be read by all literary scholars, historians, philosophers—and statesmen!'