In which philosophical tale by Voltaire does the tutor Pangloss defend the idea that everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds?

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Published in 1759, “Candide, or Optimism” follows a young man taught by Pangloss that everything is arranged for the best. Voltaire tests this belief through a succession of wars, persecutions, disasters and personal misfortunes. The tale thereby satirizes the philosophical optimism then associated especially with Leibniz and his followers. Pangloss continues to explain events according to his system despite the evidence accumulating against it. Near the end, the instruction that “we must cultivate our garden” offers a more practical response than abstract justification: work, attend to what lies within human control and improve actual living conditions instead of claiming that every instance of suffering already belongs to a perfect order.