Candide Meaning

I believe the meaning in  Voltaire's Candide lies directly with what the reader is left with for first and last impressions. At both of these points in the story, the reader is given philosophical theories. The first is said to be true at the beginning and progressively shown to not be true. The world is not the greatest of all worlds, because it is what you make it. I believe that is the primary message Voltaire is trying to show us. Just as Candide cultivates his farm, we must cultivate our own lives. Rather than allowing ourselves to believe that everything will come with time, we must go out and reach for what we want. We have to be active in our goals and achievements in life, and put an effort across. We must take our lives in our own hands and use the world around us to achieve what we want. Voltaire writes "This new adventure caused them to philosophize more than ever. (73)." This shows that rather than living life, the men are discussing philosophy. This book shows that Philosophy in life is nothing when life itself is not being lived.