April 27, 2009
Candide
Written by Voltaire
" ‘Do you believe,’ said Candide, ‘that men have always slaughtered each other as they do today, that they’ve always been liars, cheats, traitors, ingrates and thieves, weak, fickle, cowardly, envious, greedy, drunken, miserly, ambitious, bloodthirsty, slanderous, lecherous, fanatical, hypocritical, and foolish?’
‘Do you believe,’ said Martin, ‘that hawks have always eaten pigeons when they find them’."
—Chapter XXI, page 76
Fun Facts
- Candide is taught more than any other book in French literature.
- When the book was first published, Voltaire did not openly admit to having published it. Instead he signed it “Monsieur le docteur Ralph” or “Doctor Ralph.”
- In the first forty years after publication, there were a least 10 imitations of Candide written by people other than Voltaire.
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