Candide

Outline

Candide (1759) is a satirical novel that follows the young Candide through a series of disasters, wars, and injustices across the world. Guided by his tutor Pangloss, who insists that all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds, Candide slowly learns to question blind optimism. Voltaire uses humour to criticise war, cruelty, and empty philosophising, and ends with the famous advice that we must cultivate our garden.

• Candide, a young man, passes through a series of disasters, wars, and injustices across the world.
• His tutor Pangloss insists that all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.
• Through his hardships, Candide slowly learns to question blind optimism instead of accepting it.
• Voltaire uses humour to criticise war, cruelty, and empty philosophising.
• The book ends with its famous advice: we must cultivate our garden.

Voltaire (1694–1778), born François-Marie Arouet, was a French writer, philosopher, and one of the leading figures of the Enlightenment. He was known for his wit and his defence of freedom of expression, religious tolerance, and reason. His works include Candide, Letters on the English, and the Philosophical Dictionary.