Quotes From "Candide" By Voltaire

A fondness for roving, for making a name for themselves in their onw country, and for boasting of what they had seen in their travels, was so strong in our two wanderers, that they resolved to be no longer happy; and demanded permission of the king to leave the country. Voltaire

He showed, in a few words, that it is not sufficient to throw together a few incidents that are to be met with in every romance, and that to dazzle the spectator the thought should be new, without being farfetched; frequently sublime, but always natural; the author should have a thorough knowledge of the human heart and make it speak properly; he should be a complete poet, without showing an affectation of it in any of the characters of his piece; he should be a perfect master of his language, speak it with all its pruity and with the utmost harmony, and yet so as not to make the sense a slave to the rhyme. Whoever, added he, neglects any one of these rules, though he may write two or three tragedies with tolerable success, will never be reckoned in the number of good authors. Voltaire

If they're from the village, you take them to the inn. If they're from the city, you treat them with respect when they are beautiful and throw them on the highway when they are dead. Voltaire

Our labour preserves us from three great evils -- weariness, vice, and want. Voltaire

But for what purpose was the earth formed?" asked Candide. "To drive us mad, " replied Martin. Voltaire

You are very harsh.'' I have seen the world. Voltaire

He wanted to know how they prayed to God in El Dorado. "We do not pray to him at all, " said the reverend sage. "We have nothing to ask of him. He has given us all we want, and we give him thanks continually. Voltaire

Had no need of a guide to learn ignorance Voltaire

Martin in particular concluded that man was born to live either in the convulsions of misery, or in the lethargy of boredom. Voltaire

When man was put into the garden of eden, he was put there with the idea that he should work the land; and this proves that man was not born to be idle. Voltaire

Mankind have a little corrupted nature, for they were not born wolves, and they have become wolves; God has given them neither cannon of four-and-twenty pounders, nor bayonets; and yet they have made cannon and bayonets to destroy one another. Voltaire

Optimism, " said Cacambo, "What is that?" "Alas! " replied Candide, "It is the obstinacy of maintaining that everything is best when it is worst. Voltaire

If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others? Voltaire

What a pessimist you are! " exclaimed Candide."That is because I know what life is, " said Martin. Voltaire

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

My dear young lady, when you are in love, and jealous, and have been flogged by the Inquisition, there's no knowing what you may do. Voltaire

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

What can be more absurd than choosing to carry a burden that one really wants to throw to the ground? To detest, and yet to strive to preserve our existence? To caress the serpent that devours us and hug him close to our bosoms tillhe has gnawed into our hearts? Voltaire

Even in those cities which seem to enjoy the blessings of peace, and where the arts florish, the inhabitants are devoured by envy, cares and anxieties, which are greater plagues than any expirienced in a town when it is under siege. Voltaire