Candide is a short satirical novel about a good-natured young man raised in the castle of a German baron. Taught by his tutor Pangloss that this is the best of all possible worlds, he is soon thrown out into a world of war, shipwreck, earthquake, greed and persecution. His travels take him across Europe, South America and beyond, and he meets a cast of memorable companions, including the woman he loves, Cunégonde. Voltaire uses the fast, almost comic pace of the adventures to mock easy optimism, religious hypocrisy and the cruelty people inflict on one another. The book is a classic of the Enlightenment, and its closing call to practical, modest effort remains much quoted.
Quotes
we must cultivate our garden.
If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?
I am the best-natured creature in the world, and yet I have already killed three men, and of these three two were priests."