Rereading Candide, I was struck by the link between optimism and the optimal, the idea that we have been placed in this… — Mark Ravenhill Copy Share Image
“The shrieks were coming from two quite naked girls, who were pursued by a pair of apes snapping at their bottoms. [...]… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Optimism and happiness are not the same thing, but they are becoming interchangeable, and it seemed to me that Voltaire's Candide gave… — Mark Ravenhill Copy Share Image
All men are by nature free; you have therefore an undoubted liberty to depart whenever you please, but will have many and… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
“Everything is not as good as in El-Dorado; but everything is not so bad.” — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Optimism," said Cacambo, "What is that?" "Alas!" replied Candide, "It is the obstinacy of maintaining that everything is best when it is… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Dogs, monkeys, and parrots are a thousand times less miserable than we are. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
You're a bitter man," said Candide. That's because I've lived," said Martin. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
“It is man´s faith to live either on agonies of fear and turmoil or in the prostration of boredom.” — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Hyper-selectionism has been with us for a long time in various guises; for it represents the late nineteenth century's scientific version of… — Stephen Jay Gould Copy Share Image
I should like to know which is worse: to be ravished a hundred times by pirates, and have a buttock cut off,… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
What! Have you no monks to teach, to dispute, to govern, to intrigue and to burn people who do not agree with… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Excellently observed", answered Candide; "but let us cultivate our garden. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
“I have no more than twenty acres of ground," he replied, "the whole of which I cultivate myself with the help of… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Translating Candide into tweets has really deepened my appreciation of his writing - it wouldn't work so well with nineteenth-century authors. Every… — Mark Ravenhill Copy Share Image
What a pessimist you are!" exclaimed Candide. "That is because I know what life is," said Martin. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
“My dear young lady, when you are in love, and jealous, and have been flogged by the Inquisition, there's no knowing what… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Candide is one of those books I read when I was young and that I come back to regularly. — Mark Ravenhill Copy Share Image
My passion for gardening may strike some as selfish, or merely an act of resignation in the face of overwhelming problems that… — Andrew Weil Copy Share Image
I have not chosen to create a linear story, but a series of different narratives: in the end there are five plays… — Mark Ravenhill Copy Share Image
All events are linked together in the best of possible worlds; after all, if you had not been driven from a fine… — Voltaire Copy Share Image
But for what purpose was the earth formed?" asked Candide. "To drive us mad," replied Martin. — Voltaire Copy Share Image
Also, everyone thinks they know Candide - you hear people described as 'Panglossian'. So if Candide appears on a poster, it feels… — Mark Ravenhill Copy Share Image
