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Contents · Categories · Featured content · A–Z index Candide is a 1759 French satire by the Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire. The novella begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism by his tutor, Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this existence, followed by Candide's slow, painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes with Candide, if not outright rejecting optimism, advocating an enigmatic precept, "we must cultivate our garden", in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds". Candide is known for its sarcastic tone and its erratic, fantastical, and fast-moving plot. With a story similar to that of a more serious bildungsroman or picaresque novel, it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact. Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so too does Candide in this short novel, albeit more directly and humorously. Immediately after its secretive publication, the book was widely banned because it contained religious blasphemy, political sedition and intellectual hostility hidden under a thin veil of naïveté. Today, Candide is recognised as Voltaire's magnum opus. (more...) Recently featured: Noël Coward – Zinc – Gangtok From Wikipedia's newest articles: August 23: Ganesh Chaturthi (Hinduism, 2009); International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition; Liberation Day in Romania More anniversaries: August 22 – August 23 – August 24 The redeye (Psaltoda moerens) is a species of cicada found throughout southeastern Australia, from southern Queensland to South Australia, as well as Tasmania. As the name implies, the eyes are a deep red colour, although pinkish- and brownish-eyed specimens are seen. They feed primarily on eucalyptus but also on Angophora trees. Recently featured: Anti-Israel protest in Tanzania – Stereogram – Phobos Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other projects: This Wikipedia is written in English. Started in 2001, it currently contains 3,009,381 articles. Many other Wikipedias are available; some of the largest are listed below. aswath.com

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