Famous quotes explained: « Work keeps three great evils away from us: boredom, vice, and need. », Candide, Voltaire, 1759.

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Famous quotes explained: « Work keeps three great evils away from us: boredom, vice, and need. », Candide, Voltaire, 1759.

This quote from Candide expresses, in a succinct manner, both the virtues of work and Voltaire’s thoughts on it.

Indeed, work, through the concentration it demands and the act of creating something, occupies the mind and helps to avoid boredom. As it takes time and healthily tires the body and mind, it leaves less room for vice. It is already a virtue in itself, unlike idleness, and therefore helps to combat the vice of idleness. Finally, through the remuneration it provides, it helps to avoid poverty and need. For Voltaire, work possesses all the qualities necessary.

Voltaire had a very Anglo-Saxon and liberal view of work, no doubt influenced by his years spent in England. Candide’s morality puts a strong emphasis on work, as evidenced by the famous quote, « we must cultivate our garden. » One meaning behind this quote is that one must work to progress in life. Voltaire’s advocacy for work goes even further, as he believed that a nation’s strength lay in its industrious and hardworking character.

Work keeps three great evils away from us: boredom, vice, and need

Links to Another quotes: Famous quotes explained: « Without the freedom to criticize, there is no genuine praise. » Act V, Scene 3., The Marriage of Figaro, Beaumarchais, 1784.Famous quotes explained: « One must eat to live, not live to eat. »The Miser, Act III, Scene V, Molière, 1668. Famous Quotes explained: « In war, it is the war of men; in peace, it is the war of ideas. », Fragments, Hugo, 1885. Famous Quotes explained: « I am weary of museums, cemeteries of the arts. » , Lamartine, Voyage en Orient, 1835. Famous Quotes Explained: « What is well conceived is clearly expressed. And the words to say it come easily. », Nicolas Boileau, The Art of Poetry, 1674. Famous Quotes Explained: « One sees clearly with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eyes. », The Little Prince, Saint-Exupéry, 1943. Famous quotes explained: « Education is given by the family; instruction is owed by the state. », Victor Hugo, Words and deeds, 1876. Famous Quotes explained: « One person is missing, and everything is depopulated. » Méditations poétiques, « L’Isolement », Lamartine, 1820. Famous quotes explained: « To love is to know how to say ‘I love you’ without speaking. » Victor Hugo

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