25+ Important Candide Quotes From Voltaire's Satirical Novella
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Any individual proficient with a weapon mightier than the sword undoubtedly is the greatest personage to behold and acclaim.
"Work keeps at bay three great evils: boredom, vices, and need," as quoted by Voltaire, these closing thoughts from 'Candide', point out that it is indeed work that sets the mind free from the clutches of eternal cynicism of the real world and the ever encompassing needs of mankind.
It is work that keeps one on the track of optimism.
'Candide' was first published in France in 1759. Voltaire presents his satiric perspective on society and respectability in this novella.
'Candide' (or 'The Optimist' in its English interpretation) the novella unfolds the character of a young man, indoctrinated with optimism. It follows his journey as he faces the harsh and brutal reality outside of his protected childhood that challenges his character.
Eventually, this tour de force concludes on the note of preferring practicality over the socially drawn virtuous illusions. It infers that optimism should be approached realistically instead of with the textual driving ideologies that "all is for the best" or "best of all possible worlds."
Here are some of the best 'Candide' Voltaire quotes for you to enjoy. If you enjoy our selection of Voltaire 'Candide' quotes, then do check out our 'The Stranger' quotes and Satire quotes as well.
Important 'Candide' Voltaire Quotes
François-Marie d’Arouet was known by the name, Voltaire. Voltaire is one of the most distinguished and eminent of all French writers as well as a public activist who played a significant role in defining the eighteenth-century movement, the Enlightenment.
Here are some of the best quotes from 'Candide'. Read on for the best of all possible 'Candide' quotes from this great literary work to help you better study concepts like God and several others.
1. “Men...must have corrupted nature a little, for they were not born wolves, and they have become wolves. God did not give them twenty-four-pounder cannons or bayonets, and they have made bayonets and cannons to destroy each other”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
2. “That is very well put . . . but let us cultivate our garden.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide ’.
3. “But for what purpose was the earth formed? asked Candide. ‘To drive us mad,’ replied Martin.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
4. “If we do not meet with agreeable things, we shall at least meet with something new.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
5. “In this country it is found requisite, now and then, to put an admiral to death, in order to encourage the others.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
6. “Work then without disputing, said Martin; it is the only way to render life supportable.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
7. “You'll make a prodigious fortune; if we cannot find our account in one world we shall in another. It is a great pleasure to see and do new things.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
8. “What is this optimism? said Cacambo. ‘Alas!’ said Candide, it is the madness of maintaining that everything is right when it is wrong.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
9. “What signifies it, said the Dervish, whether there be evil or good? When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease or not?”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
10. “Cacambo, who had seen many of these kinds of adventures, was not discouraged. He stripped the baron of his Jesuit’s habit and put it upon Candide.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
11. “Misfortunes confer their own privileges.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
12. “So pleasant it is to be on the move, to get ourselves noticed back home, and to boast of what we have seen on our travels, that our two happy wanderers resolved to be happy no longer.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
13.
“I should like to know which is worse: to be ravished a hundred times by pirates, and have a buttock cut off, and run the gauntlet of the Bulgarians, and be flogged and hanged in an auto-da-fe, and be dissected, and have to row in a galley -- in short, to undergo all the miseries we have each of us suffered - or simply to sit here and do nothing?'
That is a hard question,' said Candide.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
14. “It is love; love, the comfort of the human species, the preserver of the universe, the soul of all sentient beings, love, tender love.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
Incredible 'Candide' Quotes
He was a brave crusader against oppression, extremism, and brutality and his work efficiently laid an ideal influence on the modern concept of philosophy and the philosopher in European civilization. 'Candide' is one of the prominent works by Voltaire; a novel that is frequently viewed as illustrative of the Enlightenment period.
Read on for some of the most interesting 'Candide' quotes which you can not help but marvel at.
15. “I am the best-natured creature in the world, and yet I have already killed three men, and of these three two were priests.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
16. “Observe that noses were made to wear spectacles; and so we have spectacles.
Legs were visibly instituted to be breached, and we have breeches.
Stones were formed to be quarried and to build castles; and My Lord has a very noble castle; the greatest Baron in the province should have the best house; and as pigs were made to be eaten, we eat pork all year round; consequently, those who have asserted all is well talk nonsense; they ought to have said that all is for the best.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
17. “A hundred times I was upon the point of killing myself; but still I loved life.
This ridiculous foible is perhaps one of our most fatal characteristics; for is there anything more absurd than to wish to carry continually a burden which one can always throw down? to detest existence and yet to cling to one's existence? in brief, to caress the serpent which devours us, till he has eaten our very heart?”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
18. “If we do not exert the right of eating our neighbor, it is because we have other means of making good cheer.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
19. “It is demonstrable, said he, that things cannot be otherwise than as they are; for as all things have been created for some end, they must necessarily be created for the best end.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
20. “All that is is for the best. If there is a volcano at Lisbon it cannot be elsewhere. It is impossible that things should be other than they are; for everything is right.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
21. “My friend, you see how perishable are the riches of this world; there is nothing solid but virtue, and the happiness of seeing Cunegonde once more.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
22. “What a pessimist you are! exclaimed Candide. That is because I know what life is, said Martin.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
23. “Dogs, monkeys, and parrots are a thousand times less miserable than we are.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
24. “I read only to please myself, and enjoy only what suits my taste.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
25. “had no need of a guide to learn ignorance.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
26. “Imagine all contradictions, all possible incompatibilities--you will find them in the government, in the law-courts, in the churches, in the public shows of this droll nation.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
27. “But there must be some pleasure in condemning everything--in perceiving faults where others think they see beauties. You mean there is pleasure in having no pleasure.”
- Voltaire, ‘Candide’.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 'Candide' quotes then why not take a look at 'The Tao Of Pooh' quotes, or Spinoza quotes.
Second image credit: Nicku / Shutterstock.com
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Bachelor of Arts Hons specializing in Modern Languages (French and Spanish)
Monisha KochharBachelor of Arts Hons specializing in Modern Languages (French and Spanish)
A Modern Languages graduate from the University College London, Monisha with a passion for travel and exploring different cultures. She is fluent in French and Spanish and is currently learning Hindi. Monisha enjoys discovering new foods and is an avid sports fan, following soccer and Formula 1. In her spare time, she enjoys playing tennis and watching TV shows.
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