... life to writing. Before writing Candide, Voltaire went through a lot in his life that probably inspired his seemingly radical views on life, and the rejection of "Optimism-, the philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, which sates that the universe is rational. Voltaire found it impossible to justify the actions of the universe after witnessing the great earthquake in Lisbon in 1755 that killed ... ...

• Word Count: 932
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate