Candido: O L’ Ottimismo (1759)

Candide, or Optimism (1759) written by Voltaire, the shining star of the French Enlightenment, is a biting, hilarious and frequently outrageous satire that pokes philosophical fun at – of all things – the doctrine of optimism.

Candide is a nave youth stubbornly adhering to the notion that all is for the best in this, the best of all possible worlds, despite being cast into a flood of misfortunes and picaresque misadventures that take him around the world.

Whether Candide and optimism itself emerges unscathed in the end, hinges upon his own deceptively simple words: let us cultivate our garden.