This little gem is traditionally attributed to Francois Marie Arouet (Voltaire), although the exact circumstances of its utterance seem to be a bit foggy.

The most common account claims that Voltaire accepted an invitation to an orgy and acquitted himself well enough to be invited back during the next event (a night or a week later, depending on the teller of the story). He declined this second invitation, explaining "Once a philosopher, twice a pervert" (though presumably in French).

Others hold that the famous line was spoken following Voltaire's experimentation with homosexuality or other unorthodox (for the time) sexual practices, but the general structure of the tale seems to remain or less intact.

In modern use, the line seems to have taken on some of the connotations of "I'll do anything once, twice if I like it".