Voltaire’s Candide – 250th Anniversary
Voltaire knew the world was on the cusp of a greater existence — technological development, New World expansion, individual liberty, and societal equality — but he felt there were subtle forces restricting this progression.
Forces like militaristic avarice, aristocratic ignorance, and the unequal distribution of wealth between the upper-class and the lower-class. Of course, these concerns, and resistance by a burgeoning middle-class, led to the French Revolution.
Francois Marie Arouet (pen name Voltaire) was born on November 21, 1694, in Paris. Provided an aristocratic education, Voltaire was what might be called a “smart-ass” in modern times, and he was often too smart for his own good.
In 1726, Voltaire insulted the powerful young nobleman, Chevalier De Rohan, and was given two options: imprisonment or exile. Choosing to be exiled, from 1726 to 1729 Voltaire lived in England. While in England, Voltaire became enamored with the philosophy of John Locke and the unique vision and imagination of Sir Isaac Newton.
Voltaire was particularly interested in the philosophical rationalism of the time — embracing a notion that humans should remain steadfast in an intellectual, deductive pursuit of truth, instead of emotive, sensory perception of the world.
In 1759, Voltaire’s Candide was published, and the world would never be the same. The legacy of Candide remains today as a piece of fire-brand literature that speaks to man’s simian roots — that we are all just monkeys with nice haircuts.
Some of Digital Ink‘s favorite Voltaire quotes:
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
“Animals have these advantages over man: they never hear the clock strike, they die without any idea of death, they have no theologians to instruct them, their last moments are not disturbed by unwelcome and unpleasant ceremonies, their funerals cost them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills.”
“Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.”
“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”
