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Candide
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About this work
Candide is Voltaire's 1759 satire, a breakneck tale of a naive young man flung across a world of war, disaster, and cruelty while clinging to his tutor's lesson that all is for the best. Voltaire's target is glib optimism, and his weapon is wit; the book ends not in despair but in a modest, practical wisdom: we must cultivate our garden.
About the author — Voltaire
Voltaire (1694 to 1778), born Francois-Marie Arouet, was a French Enlightenment writer and philosopher famous for his wit and his attacks on intolerance and superstition. Candide is his most enduring work.
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People also ask
What is Candide by Voltaire about?
A young optimist who is taught that this is the best of all possible worlds, then sees that claim demolished by a string of catastrophes. It is a satire of naive optimism and the cruelties of the age.
What is the famous line from Candide?
Its closing counsel, that we must cultivate our garden, meaning that rather than argue about why the world is as it is, we should turn to honest, useful work.
Why was Candide controversial?
Because it mocked the optimistic philosophy and the religious and political authorities of its day so sharply that it was banned, which only spread its fame.