LITERATURE - Voltaire
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Voltaire was one of the wisest, funniest and cleverest people of the 18th century. He continues to have lots to teach us about toleration, modesty and kindness.
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Produced in collaboration with Reflective Films
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Script written for The School of Life by Professor Nicholas Cronk, Director of the Voltaire Foundation:
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“Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”
-Voltaire
Brilliant
A powerful line.
Corvus Morve Do not tattoo this as Voltaire lol Actually this quote is misattributed to Voltaire it was a man named Peter Gay who was summarizing Voltaire’s work who actually used the metaphor.
Things have changed. "Earth is a spaceship and we're all crew." Buckminster Fuller. Sadly the billionaires want to build lifeboats, while sinking the ship.
@Corvus Morve Not true. The economy would be smaller, but in fact more more people would have jobs, in way more local and regional businesses. Mass production kills jobs. And robots and AI will make this much worse in the near future. Other indicator: Trump just bailed out big business and still many many Americans lost their jobs. Clearly saving big corporations doesn't help people on the ground. And then you clearly don't mind plastics in all your food, dying ecosystems, a damage that continues due to corporate lobbies. Just check 'biggest threats to our planet' we're guilty of.
This narrator has the most calming and lovely voice
It sounds like Olly
May I recommend my own channel, I talk about the Enlightenment regularly, recently talked to this Diderot scholar: ua-cam.com/video/jyn_nTC6_ks/v-deo.html
It’s Alain de Botton I think
He's the main founder and contributer to the School of Life. I got to see him speak at one of their conferences. Smart dude.
What is rational religion?
This series is SPECTACULAR. ... I've never seen any catalouge of the Intellectual History of Mankind that even approaches the depth of meaning and scholarship you're building here. ... I'm blown away and deeply grateful.
Mark Marsh
that too remaining interesting...
Finding this way later.... but I hope you've found more in depth videos there's so much out there ✌
“Those who can make you believe
absurdities, can make you commit
atrocities.” ― Voltaire
Well, my response is that sometimes the biggest, greatest fools are laughed at and ridiculed by people far less intelligent then they are. That includes intellectuals, revolutionaries, men of reason, or science-ones that Voltaire would perceive as being least likeliest to be or act irrationally.
Too bad Voltaire wasn't an existentialist like Pascal, and later on Kierkegaard, Doesteschy, Nietzsche. Those intellectuals broke down and re-contextualized Voltaire's occasional long, excessive prosaic arguments and tirades and made it more understandable. Take Kierkegaard's Wag in the Theatre argument or Pascal's Wager, or even Oscar Wilde's writings, books, or witty, memorable quotes: These men make profound, remarkable arguments but you don't sense this overbearing sense of intellectual arrogance, elitism, and priggish sense of entitlement Voltaire seems to come across as in his writings.
With existentialism, its profound and deep but not cumbersome and doesn't try to talk way over the heads of its readers. Orwell probably would've found Voltaire a boring, self-entitled, self-righteous elitist whose arrogant demeanor made it hard to overlook and swallow the real considerable substance Voltaire put out. Orwell was the everyman's intellectual who despised the secluded, distant, aloof behavior, attitudes, and weekend, wannabe revolutionaries that existed in left wing academic circles, groups, secret associations in Cambridge, Oxford, Trinity College among the students, faculty, and even a few laymen.
Credo quia absurdum
Albert camus
Yoi can"t forget this lesson in shortly
#rarbango
We all are capable of atrocities. No matter which box of current beliefs you subscribe to (well, maybe Jainism stands in some weird way, but I digress). The point is -Life is absurd and I do not believe You to be a Jain, so probability is, that You came from a place of great vanity to say that.
Just the same as me! ☺️
We all know what comes after pride…
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" - Voltaire
Or originally by Evelyn Beatrice Hall in The Friends of Voltaire 🙈
@@norajacobs6723 i was just about to say but... 🥂
@@marfesh.hlimawma8882 i guess great minds think alike… 🥂😋
In other words "I will die defending the existence of an idea which notion I completely disagree with". Now it sounds awkward...
l'm 22 years and i love so much vontaire's books eg
1 Candide
2. Zadig
3.Essai sur les meaurs et l esprit des nation
from somaliland /borama amoud university medical student
“My eyes hunger to read more books then time allows me to devour.” ...
but “Never force yourself to read a book that you do not enjoy. ...
read what u enjoy
"The Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire." - Voltaire
maybe the dog
Thank you John Green, very cool!
Nor is it Romaine lettuce.
It's rather ironic that the Germans, who contributed to the fall of Rome, tried to recreate it
Technically false when you are taking about it in its whole. Voltaire was talking about it in its later days. There are argument that can be made that it was imperial as it from time to time ruled over people of other ethnicities (which is one definition), an holy because it was from time to time blessed by the pope
Which one of his books did he say that phrase in?
I love how all the images hang together, metaphorically and literally, in a way that looks a little chaotic and still ordered, to convey a greater point and help you follow the ideas; it's very satisfying.
Common Sense is Not that Common.
---Voltaire
That hits hard....
François-Marie "How did I get this old without someone killing me" Arouet.
I'm very proud to be french, thanks to the Lumières and their ideas, our world is well shaped. I read Candide long time ago, and it is one of these books you won't forget.
Very good video by the way.
That all came from English culture In the 1700s. If you've read Voltaire, then you should notice because he was clear about this and was contemptuous of French culture and society in general. the French Enlightenment thinkers were heavily influenced by English political structures, human and civil rights legislation and enlightened thinking. Voltaire and his contemporaries confirmed this - so don't be too proud, France was a backward feudal, autocratic society until it was dragged into the modern period
La culture français est très belle
Thank you School of Life for finally doing Voltaire! He was so witty and his views on many topics are admirable. Please do Thomas Paine next? Also other great thinkers you can possibly do next are David Hume, Thomas Jefferson and Gottfried Leibniz. It would also be so cool if you did science as well along with philosophy and literature. Anyway, your channel is great and I think your doing a fantastic job for culture. I'm glad I've been a subscriber for this long and hope you get many more :)
Also I live in England and I might come visit your shop in London.
if you're interested they have an article on Hume in their webpage, I think it is schooloflife.org or something like that
+Ellis Farrow and dino buzzati
Significant that there is no mention of his great love; Emilie du Chatalet, the most brilliant woman of the 18th century. Voltaire himself deferred to her. She deserves a section all her own.
What a beautiful voice. The timbre the cadence the tone. Smooth and soothing and calm but not boring. Appropriate inflections and volume. And your French is beautiful as well. Your voice with French is sublime.
This is one of the the best sites I've found. So entertaining, whilst learning more about our favorite philosophers. Wonderful to hear even more about Kafka. Had no idea his father was such a sociopath. No wonder poor Kafka had zilch confidence. A tragedy.
Alain de Botton does a wonderful job of narrating these picturesque productions. Thanks so much for these.
Thanks School of Life, now I need to read some Voltaire. He is a very interesting man, but his ideals are even more interesting. So much mentioned in this video can be applied to the present day and even more can be applied to the human mind. Gotta love some history and philosophy every once in a while
Back in the 60s my favorite writers were Voltaire and Bertrand Russell. Good guys.
When I read Candide (I grew up and live in France, Paris) our teacher told us that Optimism was the philosophy of ignorance and to deliberately blind ourselves from the evil in the world and ignore it, not to simply change views on evil.
I've been listening to/watching a number of youtube videos lately and boy, is there a difference in the quality of the writing among them! This one is beautifully, succinctly, and elegantly written. It also has the advantage of a cultured British narrator whose French pronunciation is notably accurate.
"If God created us in His own image, then we have certainly returned the favor." - Voltaire
Pls where can i get quotes from Voltiare
go on a wiki quote and type Voltaire@@Learnersense
I applaud how you can concentrate so much much information in your videos. I always end up reading more about the topic afterwards.
Voltaire is my man! I love everything he has written! I've reread Candide twice!
I bet you haven't read any of his work.
You pretentious piece of garbage.
@@lronhubbard5915 why are you so angry, L.Ron? Go preach about Xenu or something
@José Miguel Martin is a huge chad. But seriously now I think he's the embodiment of the opposite view of Optimism, a counterpart to Candide and Pangloss. He's also hilarious.
@@miguelbranquinho7235 I agree lol, I feel like Voltaire possibly used Martin to write himself into the story a little bit as well, or to represent his views 1:35
You are doing such an incredible work posting and commenting all these videos about philosophers and writers who have been established as the greatest minds of humanity! Such valuable pocket lessons! I get curious and want to find out more. Thank you immensely!
The most interesting thing to me is that Voltaire predicted a place where I grew up in and still live. There are so many religious beliefs , churches and so forth where I live. I've never seen a shred of violence or disrespect. Commerce rules and people worship the way they want. God bless Voltaire. I formulated the very same thoughts years ago and am glad to hear thoughts like this from people public school never taught me about. Bravo!
Damn! Friggin killed it, Voltaire, No words, Candid, just been reading him. Thank you Alain and team. Voltaire and Newton absolutely brilliant.
+The School of Life You're awesome! Thank You very much!
Videos like this help to reinforce my mindset of hopefulness. Tolerance, progress and enlightenment are always better and can always achieved in society. Thank Voltaire.
Hey I'm really impressed by your french pronounciation, even in other videos your foreign languages sound flawless. Could you make a video about yourself? Like who you are, what do you do and so on
The narrator is Alain De Botton, you'll find a lot of information just by googling him
+Luca5197
Hi Luca! He is one of the greatest and most original thinkers of our time. And certainly the best " teacher of life" I know. You can listen to the Tim Ferris podcast, for a two hour interview with Alain. It's on youtube too. It is also a great idea to watch his documentaries. He has another youtube channel, where you can find all of them. Just search for the documentary " The Status Anxiety" you'll find the channel. You can also subscribe to "The Book of Life" which is the brain of this channel. Have a nice weekend!
Pali and Sanskrit pronunciations could be improved.
Abhilasha Jha Ok Abhilasha
@@bolivar1789 Hello. I'm the guy who suggested you mariage d'amour music composition. :)
Did you listen that?
Btw I love reading your such comprehensive and compressible analysis in comments.
"Doctors put drugs of which they know little into bodies of which they know less for diseases of which they know nothing at all"
Voltaire
This didn't age well huh golly
Light years ahead of his time. He predicted the COVID fascism, big pharma and state controlled media.
@@curtisbergeron5585They know just enough to be able to give you a drug that will make you just sick enough to keep you coming back but won’t kill you so that you can feel like the doctor knows what they’re doing but in reality just wants your wallet.
And that was before psychiatry.
Dear School of Life..
on behalf of all non English speakers we thank you from all our hearts for adding different subtitles as it was kinda difficult for us to follow in English.
1- Please add more subtitles for the languages that you didn't add yet to help in spreading the message of Voltaire and other great heros to spread their lights around the world because I can tell you that we really need this knowledge (speaking from the Middle East)
2- Please use marketing to promote this channel as their are many humans who are still lost and look for such a sun to light up their lives.
BE
sincerely your truly follower
Fares
This video is absolutely brilliant. I totally adore each and every one you make, but this one in particular sparked a certain interest inside of me. What you are doing is excellent and you are truly aiding people by providing them a better understanding of the world. Thank you and please, keep up the good work
Excellent video. Teachers should use this in schools.
It's almost disappointing to think on how updated Voltaire still is, 250 years later.
I found this channel by accident but damn I'm I happy I did.
Same.
same
SAME!!!
sammmeee'')
Same :)
Life's a garden, dig it.
Kid Zarathustra Underrated comment!
I hear Santa agrees.
"We must cultivate our garden."
Videos run fast and the subtitles move faster unable to read.
bukowski would've put it this way
I was looking at the song writer Voltaire and got here and I'm glad I learned about his guy now
No, you did it all because you're EVILLLL!
What a phenomenal, brilliant and great person
after I felt really depressed watching the Kafka video, this one here was refreshing and even uplifting. I love this literature series of yours and I'm looking forward to more
These videos are terrific, and you present the world's most interesting people and their thoughts in easy snippets.
I keep coming back to watch some of the videos of this series, amazing work even 7 years later
"The pen is mightier than the sword". Their is no greater power than that of language. Words are the very building blocks of culture. Nothing moves, and impresses better, than the power of expression.
This series is the best of it's kind, thanks for creating it!
these summaries and animations are very good. How do ya'll pump them out so fast?
+The School of Life - Do a video about workaholism with pictures of your staff / cast, then. lol
I find it difficult to appreciate the level of wisdom individuals such as Voltaire had. He must have been very advanced for his time. The world he perceived must have been very different.
One thing I noticed about Candid. No matter what kind of hell that man went through... He just kept going. After reading the book. The first thing that popped into my mind was, Bob Marley. "Though my days have seen much sorrow, I know there will be a better tomorrow." That's Candid.
The School of Life is the greatest channel ever !
Thank for this video, I have my AS Level English literature exam in a week and this can aid me in being perceptive in my essay.
best of luck!
I took my A level Lang exam yesterday. Best of luck!
assassin's creed level?
+Mayuri Singh thank you so much!
+That space dude probably 😞 I just hope I'll be calm.
Thank you so much for covering The Greatest. Amazing work as always
His short or not so short stories deserve to be read. He is witty and imaginative. He's a bit forgotten, think, in what literature concerns. 🆗👍
Such a coincidence that this video was uploaded today, when I just finished reading Candide! It did not feel like an enjoyable experience to read Candide, as Voltaire seems to put the reader through an emotional roller coaster (mostly negative), but I did feel like I learned some good lessons at the end of it! My takeaway at the end was: it is much more enjoyable to have a life where you struggle and try to improve, than to have a life of idleness.
Thanks for the video!
you are doing much better job than my literature teacher
I especially love the use of William Blake's paintings in this video :)
Well, I don't believe in God - but God bless this man. And your channel.
+Jacky Danny ...Amen to that Jacky.
Please School of life, your videos mean so much to me, could you consider making a video on Hermann Hesse sometimes in the next 10 years ? He's had a great influence on my life and still has a lot of messages to teach us
This is so good, I read Candide last year, so it is nice to be reminded about how great a work it is! Please do Chaucer next, he's so underrated since it's quite difficult to read Middle English, but the content of the Canterbury Tales (especially the Wife of Bath) is so amazing and relevant, considering it was written so long ago
Wonderfully describe the world even today. Thank you for sharing
Read Almost everything he's written. Philosophers tend be dry in their writing. Not Voltaire! The man was so witty in funny (and in the most sophisticated way)! His handle of the French language was so great that French critics would say his French was spiritual!
This guy was my hero since middle school
Great as usual! I hope more Asian writers such as Soseki Natume (Partly because the year 2016 is his centenary.)
That was really good. I always hit this channel up when I'm reading a classic.
i relate myself with Voltaire, started to like him even before knowing him more
Thank you. I wish one day i could express myself and listen to me the way just now i reasoned.
Great episode! Voltaire is such an interesting person! I'm curious to find out more about him now
This certainly helped us cultivate our Gardens! Great to see Swami Vivekananda come up in your videos. Would be interesting to see your interpretation of his philosophy and other thinkers from India like Tagore or Gandhi.
The first time I heard of the name Voltaire was in university philosophy class. I was troubled by how epic this name sounds.
VOLTAIRE became my favorite "author" and my book of THE COMPLETE WORKS OF VOLTAIRE, was carried with me, until all was lost. VOLTAIRE solidified my thoughts on Capitol Punishment. VOLTAIRE wrote, no one has the right to take anothers' life.
Cage the person like an animal, feeding him bread and water till the end of his days.
VOLTAIRE, A GREAT MIND.
"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him." -Voltaire.
Thank you so much i really want to appreciate the hardwork and creativity of everyone because of whom this masterpiece became possible 🙏🏻❤️
The ending of Cadide is basically Candide not buying Pangloss bs anymore and it's amazing
what a pleasure to listen at your speech in so good and clear English
So so so grateful for the amazing videos you're putting on UA-cam. The level of cultural excellence and the ease with which you manage to convey difficult notions is very rare to find.
Thank you so much
Candid was the Forest Gump of his day. It's kind of funny if you think about it.
More like the opposite
@@hits_different Candide was written 240 years before that movie, so its more like "Forrest Gump is the Candid of his day"
Voltaire and Nietzche are my favorite.
I love them too and Nietzsche highly regarded Voltaire he even dedicated his book "human, all too human" to him, i think that thanks to both europe broke away from old superstitions even though sadly today their ideas are still quite misinterpreted...
Well done. My Amazon wish list just grew with a few Voltaire works.
I wonder if you guys could do David Hume as your next philosopher?
+Takei Kazushige They're probably making the video, but there already are an article www.thebookoflife.org/david-hume/
I found this man late in life, he has become my hero! The more I read about him the more I like him!
yess, your literature videos are my favourite!!
I think the exact quote is: 'Il faut cultiver son jardin', or 'Il faut cultiver notre jardin', by that meaning start by improving yourself.
Wow, not only do you have a beautiful English accent. You have perfectly mastered the French accent too.
+Divert He has had a highly privileged education costing many hundreds of thousands of pounds. If only we all had the opportunity.
Considering that he is swiss, so french and german were his first languages, he didn't really "master" them.
I like your voice and your style of narration. Thank you for the priceless information.
Would you guys ever consider making an episode on C.S. Lewis? I'd love to see what you could write about his works.
I stan Voltaire PERIOD
Hmmm. I have the shrewd notion that the only reason that people of different religions tolerate together in trade is because they at some level have a universal religion: the religion of money.
Montesquieu: "Commerce is a cure for the most destructive prejudices … wherever we find agreeable manners, there commerce flourishes; and that wherever there is commerce, there we meet with agreeable manners."
+StarDragon77 I prefer the word wealth, but I get the point
***** Hmmm, yes. In retrospect, probably the better word would have been "greed".
wetteefun In other words "money talks"?
StarDragon77 greed if tou want, the thing I want to address is that money is worthless while wealth is not, for example, you can print more money, but you cant print more wealth
Nice. I would say that you forgot to explain how Voltaire is the ultimate master of irony, which is the most French form of humour, and that his novels , specially Candide, are absolutely hilarious. Thank you for the video.
.
The best channel on UA-cam! Next: Thomas Mann please!
+Giorgi Merabishvili Yes, please :)
Thank you School of Life for posting such video. I wish you delved a bit deeper into the writers/philosophers' mind and theories, but I understand it would make them longer and harder to understand
I long for seeing one about Salinger.
Same here :)
I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes.
I am really glad I subscribed to this channel (thanks Wisecrack) I love being exposed to so many open-minded and progressive thinkers throughout history. Seriously, Voltaire was really a rebellous and wizened philosopher. Honestly, a true egalitarian and progressive thinker. Kudos School of Life!
Yay! Voltaire has been one of my heroes since.... gosh, Middle School probably.
Love your videos; have you thought of doing one on Lacan or Jung?
+Vrixton Phillips
Yes, Lacan or Jung!
Maybe Jacques-Alain Miller.
Absolutely superb video thank you so much
This was made a day after my written assignment on Candide.
+Imran Meco who did it better?
+Imran Meco I did a report on Candide during my 2nd year at College. Candide is one of my favorite books from the 1700s.
Candide is very funny, one mishap after another.
One of the best thinkers
"Bad teacher, blame pupil" - Me.
No but seriously Voltaire was a top geezer.
I love these School of Life videos!!
Could you make a episode about Luís de Camões? He is one of the most important authors in Portuguese litterature and it would be intersting if more peolpe knew about this amazing artist.
I love the picture you put with 'pour encourager les autres'- full quote is 'Dans ce pays-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres', 'In this country we like to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others
best channel ever. thank you.
I see others have expressed this as well, but I shall repeat. Finally, Voltaire. Thank You. Been wanting this one for ages and I'm not disappointed. Another on my list is Charles Baudelaire.
Voltaire in my mind had religion just right. That there was a truth in religion, but also that truth is so often exploited for the sake of a leader or power. Nobody in all of history has said it so well. His words touched of the Age of Enlightenment and its greatest achievement the founding of America. And today we forget his words to our own detriment, we once again live in Plato's cave and like always the words and truth of religion are so easily twisted and turned to fit the exploitation of those in power.
I have been waiting for this for a long time. Brilliant!
The next philosopher needs to be Diogenes.
Of course...
y’all, I was fr struggling out here with my world history project. thanks for the video!