If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?

Si c'est ici le meilleur des mondes possibles, que sont donc les autres?

Voltaire

Candide

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More information about this quote

Topic

Problem of evil

Author

Voltaire

Source

Candide

Medium

Novel

Genre

Satire

Statement Type

Question

Language

French

Time

1759 1750s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Occupation

Philosopher Writer

From

France Europe

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Voltaire. Candide, ou l'Optimisme [Candide: or, All for the Best]. Geneva: Gabriel Cramer, 1759, ch. 6.

Current Citation

Voltaire. Candide, edited by Nicholas Cronk. W. W. Norton & Company, 2016, ch. 6.

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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by Voltaire

I die adoring God, loving my friends, not hating my enemies, and detesting superstition.

Voltaire

More information about this quote
Topic
Approaching death

Author

Voltaire
Language
French
Time
1778 1770s 18th century
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Voltaire. Note to his secretary, Jean-Louis Wagniere. 28 Feb. 1778.

Another quote from the 1750s

Old Boys have their Playthings as well as young Ones; the Difference is only in the Price.

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)

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More information about this quote
Topic
Youth vs. old age Expensive hobbies Hobbies

Author

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)
Source
Poor Richard's Almanack
Medium
Almanac
Statement Type
Proverbs, aphorisms and adages
Language
English
Time
1752 1750s 18th century
Era
Colonial America
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Franklin, Benjamin [published as Richard Saunders]. Poor Richard Improved. Philadelphia, 1752.

Current Citation

Franklin, Benjamin. "Poor Richard Improved." Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography, Poor Richard, and Later Writings, edited by J. A. Leo Lemay. Library of America, 2005.

Another quote from Age of Enlightenment

God is, or He is not. But to which side shall we incline? Reason can decide nothing here. There is an infinite chaos which separates us. A game is being played at the extremity of this infinite distance where heads or tails will turn up. What will you wager?... If you win, you win everything; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.

Blaise Pascal

Pensées

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More information about this quote
Topic
Existence of God God Probability

Author

Blaise Pascal
Source
Pensées
Medium
Epigram
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
French
Time
1662 1660s 17th century
Era
Age of Enlightenment
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Pascal, Blaise. Pensées [Thoughts]. Paris: Chez G. Desprez, 1670, no. 229.

Current Citation

Pascal, Blaise. "Pensées." Pensées and Other Writings, edited by Anthony Levi, translated by Honor Levi. Oxford University Press, 2008, no. 229.

Another quote originally in French

The thirst after happiness is never extinguished in the heart of man.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Confessions (Rousseau)

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More information about this quote
Topic
Seeking happiness

Author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Source
Confessions (Rousseau)
Genre
Autobiography and memoir
Language
French
Time
1789 1780s 18th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Les Confessions [The Confessions]. Aux Deux-Ponts: Chez Sanson Et Compagnie, 1789, bk. 9.

Current Citation

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Confessions, translated by Angela Scholar. Oxford University Press, 2008, pt. 2, bk. 9.

Another quote of the following type Question

The great question that has never been answered…is what does a woman want?

Sigmund Freud

More information about this quote
Topic
Men and women
Speaker
Sigmund Freud
Statement Type
Question
Language
German
Time
1925 1920s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Freud, Sigmund. Stated to Marie Bonaparte during their psychoanalytic session. 8 Dec. 1925.