pickAlthough it helps to know at least a little of the historical & philosophical context of Voltaire's slim work, it still drives its point home pretty well. We will never have all the answers that we seek. So is the world we live in, with all its good & suffusive evil still the best of all possible worlds? Or is it the worst due to the free will of humanity succumbing to boredom, vice, & need?
Who cares? You have a garden to cultivate. Get to it.
"Let us work without theorizing...'tis the only way to make life endurable."
Is it misguided or wrongheaded to think that - to some degree - the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants could conceivably have been somewhat inspired by this book's protagonist, Candide?
so-so3 ⭐️s
I love a bit of satire. Many parts of this book felt like a Monty Python skit or a Mel Brooks film. I‘ve never been able to get behind the whole “everything is as it should be” way of thinking, and Voltaire does a really great job of skewering that philosophy in this very short read. The “tend your own garden” line at the end really stuck with me. I think it‘s very important advice, especially in this time of social media oversaturation.
I like this illustration (although now that I‘ve noticed that the women are all naked and headless, in contrast to the male gardener, I‘m annoyed!) It‘s a shame I can‘t seem to find the name of the illustrator.
NB: I found it in a pop sociology magazine called Zadig, and not in Voltaire‘s Zadig.
I love finding things in second hand books, even if they are just notes about types of printers!
