World Literature from 1660
Voltaire
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Voltaire (1694-1778)

 

Voltaire statuette by Wedgwood
voltaire_wedgwood.jpg
Based on a figure by Rosset, ca. 1777

In Candide, Voltaire reduces the German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz's philosophy to the basic, over-simplified idea that "Everything is best in this the best of all possible worlds."