Quotation by Voltaire

More Quotes From

Additional Sources

"A l'auteur du livre des trois imposteurs" Ã‰pÃ®tres (1770)"Angels" Philosophical Dictionary (1764)A Treatise on Toleration, Voltaire Selections, ed. Paul Edwards, Macmillan, New York (1989)"Avarice" Philosophical Dictionary (1764)Cacambo, in Candide (1759)

Related Subjects

pessimism (4) hope (3) paradoxes (3) evil (2) health (2) wisdom (2) fate (2) life (2) civilization (2) sex (2)

Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.

Voltaire

Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778), French philosopher, author. Candide, in Candide, or Optimism (Candide, ou l'Optimisme) (1759), ch. 19, p. 222, Paris, Garnier Flammarion (1966).

Words uttered by the disabused Candide.

Cite this source Embed this quotation

Surprise me with a

The Columbia World of Quotations © 1996, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by written agreement, the following are prohibited: copying substantial portions or the entirety of the work in machine readable form, making multiple printouts thereof, and other uses of the work inconsistent with U.S. and applicable foreign copyright and related laws.

Partners:Word Bloglines Citysearch The Daily Beast Ask Answers Ask Kids Life123 Reference Sendori