--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But for what purpose was the earth…" description: "\"But for what purpose was the earth formed?\" asked Candide. \"To drive us mad,\" replied Martin.\" — Voltaire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/voltaire-173_candide_but-for-what-purpose-was-the-earth-forme_2601265.png" --- # But for what purpose was the earth formed?" asked Candide… ![“But for what purpose was the earth formed?" asked Candide. "To drive us mad," replied Martin.” quote by Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/voltaire-173_candide_but-for-what-purpose-was-the-earth-forme_2601265.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/voltaire-173_candide_but-for-what-purpose-was-the-earth-forme_2601265.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/voltaire-173_candide_but-for-what-purpose-was-the-earth-forme_2601265.png) > “But for what purpose was the earth formed?" asked Candide. "To drive us mad," replied Martin.” [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The earth’s purpose is to challenge humanity, leading to madness. **In simple terms:** Life’s purpose can be maddening. Key Takeaway Embrace challenges wisely. Themes philosophy existentialism absurdity Mood contemplative skeptical Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal crisis - creative writing - academic study Key Concepts human condition meaning of life Questions to Reflect On - Do you see purpose in hardship? - How do you cope with existential doubt? A Different Perspective Not all find purpose in suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Candide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/candide/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) ## Related quotes > [A few months after NASA was formed, I was asked if I knew anyone who would like to set up a program in space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-roman/a-few-months-after-nasa-was-formed-i-was-asked-if-i-knew-anyone-who/) [Nancy Roman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-roman/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/my-dear-young-lady-when-you-are-in-love-and-jealous-and-have-been/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [What a pessimist you are!" exclaimed Candide. "That is because I know what life is," said Martin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/what-a-pessimist-you-are-exclaimed-candide-that-is-because-i-know/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“I have no more than twenty acres of ground," he replied, "the whole of which I cultivate myself with the help of my children;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/i-have-no-more-than-twenty-acres-of-ground-he-replied-the-whole-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We must cultivate our own garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-must-cultivate-our-own-garden/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Excellently observed", answered Candide; "but let us cultivate our garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/excellently-observed-answered-candide-but-let-us-cultivate-our-garden/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [What! Have you no monks to teach, to dispute, to govern, to intrigue and to burn people who do not agree with them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/what-have-you-no-monks-to-teach-to-dispute-to-govern-to-intrigue-and/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I should like to know which is worse: to be ravished a hundred times by pirates, and have a buttock cut off, and run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/i-should-like-to-know-which-is-worse-to-be-ravished-a-hundred-times/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“It is man´s faith to live either on agonies of fear and turmoil or in the prostration of boredom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-man-s-faith-to-live-either-on-agonies-of-fear-and-turmoil-or-in/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [You're a bitter man," said Candide. That's because I've lived," said Martin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/you-re-a-bitter-man-said-candide-that-s-because-i-ve-lived-said-martin/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Dogs, monkeys, and parrots are a thousand times less miserable than we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/dogs-monkeys-and-parrots-are-a-thousand-times-less-miserable-than-we/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Optimism," said Cacambo, "What is that?" "Alas!" replied Candide, "It is the obstinacy of maintaining that everything is best when it is worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/optimism-said-cacambo-what-is-that-alas-replied-candide-it-is-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“Everything is not as good as in El-Dorado; but everything is not so bad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/everything-is-not-as-good-as-in-el-dorado-but-everything-is-not-so-bad/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [All men are by nature free; you have therefore an undoubted liberty to depart whenever you please, but will have many and great difficulties…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/all-men-are-by-nature-free-you-have-therefore-an-undoubted-liberty-to/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [ “The shrieks were coming from two quite naked girls, who were pursued by a pair of apes snapping at their bottoms. \[...\] So he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-shrieks-were-coming-from-two-quite-naked-girls-who-were-pursued/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More by Voltaire > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Fanaticism, to which men are so much inclined, has always served not only to render them more brutalized but more wicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/fanaticism-to-which-men-are-so-much-inclined-has-always-served-not/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [History is the study of the world's crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/history-is-the-study-of-the-world-s-crime/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we-do-the-best-we-know/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part, the rest are lost in the multitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-with-books-as-with-men-a-very-small-number-play-a-great-part/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Meslier was the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the meteors fatal to the Christian religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/meslier-was-the-most-singular-phenomenon-ever-seen-among-all-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Being unable to make people more reasonable, I preferred to be happy away from them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/being-unable-to-make-people-more-reasonable-i-preferred-to-be-happy/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease or not?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/when-his-highness-sends-a-ship-to-egypt-does-he-trouble-his-head/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/madness-is-to-think-of-too-many-things-in-succession-too-fast-or-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/god-gave-us-the-gift-of-life-it-is-up-to-us-to-give-ourselves-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-not-inequality-which-is-the-real-misfortune-it-is-dependence/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Providence has given us hope and sleep as a compensation for the many cares of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/providence-has-given-us-hope-and-sleep-as-a-compensation-for-the-many/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-to-justify-their-wrong-doings-and-employ-speech/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/work-spares-us-from-three-evils-boredom-vice-and-need/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) [Explore all 934 Voltaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More Candide quotes > [Rereading Candide, I was struck by the link between optimism and the optimal, the idea that we have been placed in this optimal world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ravenhill/rereading-candide-i-was-struck-by-the-link-between-optimism-and-the/) [Mark Ravenhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ravenhill/) > [ “The shrieks were coming from two quite naked girls, who were pursued by a pair of apes snapping at their bottoms. \[...\] So he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-shrieks-were-coming-from-two-quite-naked-girls-who-were-pursued/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Optimism and happiness are not the same thing, but they are becoming interchangeable, and it seemed to me that Voltaire's Candide gave me a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ravenhill/optimism-and-happiness-are-not-the-same-thing-but-they-are-becoming/) [Mark Ravenhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ravenhill/) > [All men are by nature free; you have therefore an undoubted liberty to depart whenever you please, but will have many and great difficulties…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/all-men-are-by-nature-free-you-have-therefore-an-undoubted-liberty-to/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“Everything is not as good as in El-Dorado; but everything is not so bad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/everything-is-not-as-good-as-in-el-dorado-but-everything-is-not-so-bad/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Optimism," said Cacambo, "What is that?" "Alas!" replied Candide, "It is the obstinacy of maintaining that everything is best when it is worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/optimism-said-cacambo-what-is-that-alas-replied-candide-it-is-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Dogs, monkeys, and parrots are a thousand times less miserable than we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/dogs-monkeys-and-parrots-are-a-thousand-times-less-miserable-than-we/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [You're a bitter man," said Candide. That's because I've lived," said Martin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/you-re-a-bitter-man-said-candide-that-s-because-i-ve-lived-said-martin/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“It is man´s faith to live either on agonies of fear and turmoil or in the prostration of boredom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-man-s-faith-to-live-either-on-agonies-of-fear-and-turmoil-or-in/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Hyper-selectionism has been with us for a long time in various guises; for it represents the late nineteenth century's scientific version of the myth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/hyper-selectionism-has-been-with-us-for-a-long-time-in-various-guises/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [I should like to know which is worse: to be ravished a hundred times by pirates, and have a buttock cut off, and run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/i-should-like-to-know-which-is-worse-to-be-ravished-a-hundred-times/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [What! Have you no monks to teach, to dispute, to govern, to intrigue and to burn people who do not agree with them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/what-have-you-no-monks-to-teach-to-dispute-to-govern-to-intrigue-and/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Excellently observed", answered Candide; "but let us cultivate our garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/excellently-observed-answered-candide-but-let-us-cultivate-our-garden/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We must cultivate our own garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-must-cultivate-our-own-garden/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“I have no more than twenty acres of ground," he replied, "the whole of which I cultivate myself with the help of my children;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/i-have-no-more-than-twenty-acres-of-ground-he-replied-the-whole-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) [Browse all 32 Candide quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/candide/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But for what purpose was the earth formed?\" asked Candide. \"To drive us mad,\" replied Martin.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Voltaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/but-for-what-purpose-was-the-earth-formed-asked-candide-to-drive-us/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Candide" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/but-for-what-purpose-was-the-earth-formed-asked-candide-to-drive-us/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/voltaire-173_candide_but-for-what-purpose-was-the-earth-forme_2601265.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/voltaire-173_candide_but-for-what-purpose-was-the-earth-forme_2601265.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/voltaire-173_candide_but-for-what-purpose-was-the-earth-forme_2601265.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But for what purpose was the earth formed?\" asked Candide. \"To drive us mad,\" replied Martin.” — Voltaire", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Voltaire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But for what purpose was the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/but-for-what-purpose-was-the-earth-formed-asked-candide-to-drive-us/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/but-for-what-purpose-was-the-earth-formed-asked-candide-to-drive-us/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```