讀約翰．路易斯．蓋迪斯（John Lewis Gaddis）《大戰略》第三章 教師與教鞭 無論準備得多麼周全，總會有意外。務必要找到好老師，在其指導下學習緊握原則、往目標前進，不貿然奮進。 屋大維／馬克．安東尼／掂量自己的斤兩／西賽羅之死／恢復名聲／掌握羅馬的雙巨頭／奪取西西里／安東尼的自毀／衡量抱負與能力／休養生息的奧古斯都／留給你們一座大理石城／深諳孫子治兵之道的羅馬皇帝 。溫故 Virgil 維吉爾《埃涅阿斯紀》The Aeneid、墓誌銘：「…….我歌唱過牧場、田園和領袖。」分別指他的三本主要詩作：《牧歌》、《農事詩》、《牧歌》、《農事詩》，《埃涅阿斯紀》章義從伏爾泰《憨第德（或譯老實人）老實人 (Candide)》的 必須灌溉我們的花園 "Make Our Garden Grow" /cultivate our garden 說起

 

讀約翰．路易斯．蓋迪斯（John Lewis Gaddis）《大戰略》第三章 教師與教鞭 無論準備得多麼周全，總會有意外。務必要找到好老師，在其指導下學習緊握原則、往目標前進，不貿然奮進。 屋大維／馬克．安東尼／掂量自己的斤兩／西賽羅之死／恢復名聲／掌握羅馬的雙巨頭／奪取西西里／安東尼的自毀／衡量抱負與能力／休養生息的奧古斯都／留給你們一座大理石城／深諳孫子治兵之道的羅馬皇帝         。I. Berlin等。  東西名著大戰略的融會貫通： 2千多頁的《戰爭論》（On War）與《戰爭與和平》，最偉大的戰略家，總統等等； 《 大戰略》：從歷史提煉的領導決策心法》On Grand Strategy ByJohn Lewis Gaddis (耶魯大學長紅20年大師課程)，聯經出版公司。 2020.  

Virgil 維吉爾《埃涅阿斯紀》The Aeneid、墓誌銘：「…….我歌唱過牧場、田園和領袖。」分別指他的三本主要詩作：《牧歌》、《農事詩》、《牧歌》、《農事詩》，《埃涅阿斯紀》章義


西元前19年的今天，普布利烏斯·維吉利烏斯·馬羅在羅馬帝國布倫迪西烏去世（享年50歲）。 「萬歲，偉大的亡靈之首； 永別了！ 」 「Salve aeternum mihi, maxime Palla, Aeternumque vale.” ——摘自維吉爾《埃涅阿斯紀》第十一卷（西元前29-19年） 在戲劇性和敘事力量方面，維吉爾的《埃涅阿斯紀》與荷馬的偉大前輩《伊利亞德》和《奧德賽》不相上下。然而，它超越了它們，因為它對書中人物展現了深切的同情——正是這種同情，使得埃涅阿斯逃離特洛伊、尋找新家園、狄多的愛情與死亡、圖爾努斯的戰敗以及羅馬的建立等事件，成為文學史上最令人難忘的篇章。羅伯特·菲茨傑拉德的這部著名譯作，充分展現了羅馬帝國最偉大的文學藝術作品的流暢、清晰和莊嚴氣勢。 刻有維吉爾詩句的書寫板 羅馬不列顛，西元1世紀末或2世紀初 溫多蘭達羅馬堡（今諾森伯蘭郡切斯特霍爾姆） 在溫多蘭達的指揮官官邸（總督府）裡，可能是在塞里亞利斯及其家人佔領期間，有人取走了一塊木製書寫板，上面寫著一封私人信件，但尚未完成。他們在書寫板背面用相當工整的筆跡，寫下了維吉爾《埃涅阿斯紀》後半部（9.473）的一整行詩句。 這顯然不是一句容易記住的詩句，這不禁讓我們思考：溫多蘭達是否有維吉爾的文本？它們是否像常見的紙莎草紙一樣，被用來練習書寫？是誰寫的？是塞里亞利斯的子女嗎？ A.K.鮑曼，《羅馬人的生活與書信》（倫敦，大英博物館出版社，1994 年）
BBC Radio 4

Need to impress someone soon? Why not drop Virgil in the conversation...

What did the Aeneid ever do for us?
Read all about it here in our not-terribly-serious guide.

BBC.IN
Everyman's Library
Publius Vergilius Maro died in Brundisium, Roman Empire on this day in 19 BC (age 50).
"Hail, mighty firstling of the dead;
Hail and farewell for aye!"

"Salve aeternum mihi, maxime Palla,
Aeternumque vale."
--from Book XI, "Aeneid" (29–19 BC) by Virgil
In dramatic and narrative power, Virgil’s Aeneid is the equal of its great Homeric predecessors, The Iliad and The Odyssey. It surpasses them, however, in the intense sympathy it displays for its human actors–a sympathy that makes events such as Aeneas’s escape from Troy and search for a new homeland, the passion and the death of Dido, the defeat of Turnus, and the founding of Rome among the most memorable in literature. This celebrated translation by Robert Fitzgerald does full justice to the speed, clarity, and stately grandeur of the Roman Empire’s most magnificent literary work of art.




Writing-tablet with a line from Virgil

Roman Britain, late 1st or early 2nd century AD
Vindolanda Roman fort (modern Chesterholm), Northumberland
In the commanding officer's residence (praetorium) at Vindolanda, probably during the occupation by Cerialis and his family, someone took a wooden writing-tablet on which a private letter had been begun, but not finished. They wrote on the back of it, in a rather good hand, a complete line from the second half of Virgil's Aeneid (9.473).
It was certainly not a readily memorable line, which makes us wonder: Were the texts of Virgil available at Vindolanda? Were they used for writing practice as is commonly found on papyri? By whom? Cerialis' children?
A.K. Bowman, Life and letters on the Roman (London, The British Museum Press, 1994)

British Museum

Roman poet Virgil was born ‪#‎onthisday‬ in 70 BC. His Aeneid reached every part of the empire! http://ow.ly/CJO21



Books Features
ESSAY 

Scrolling Down the Ages

By MARY BEARD

There’s a lot in the Roman literary world that seems familiar: money-making booksellers, exploited authors.

Daily Highlights Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Spotlight
楊周翰譯本等

Bust of Virgil, Displayed in Rome

Virgil, the poet who wrote the epic poem Aeneid, was born on this date in 70 BCE. The poem told the story of Aeneas, who, in Greek mythology, escaped Troy after the Trojan War and eventually made his way to Italy where his descendants founded Rome. Virgil died before he could finish his poem, which was 12 books long; though the poem is considered complete, many of the lines are unfinished. The most famous translation of the Aeneid is by John Dryden, the 17th-century English poet.

Quote

"Do not yield to misfortunes, but advance more boldly to meet them, as your fortune permits you." — Virgil

The Aeneid of Virgil, Translated by John Dryden, Selections, edited by Bruce Pattison

濟慈1795-1821年輕的時代也翻譯拉丁文名詩(維吉爾Virgil的)，年表(Keats’s Life)1811年第2行”Finish translating The Aeneid. (KEATS POETICAL WORKS, edited by H. W. Grrod, OUP, p.xxvii)。----似乎沒出版？



狄德罗Denis Diderot 認 為：The Aeneid (əˈniːɪd; in Latin Aeneis, pronounced ... Aeneidos is a Latin epic poem written by Virgil in the late 1st century BC (29 ...)最美的一句是：卷一 第462行。(兩處翻譯卻天差地別啦！2014年10.6決定抄出，送港民.....)

He halted, and said, with tears: ‘What place is there,
Achates, what region of earth not full of our hardships?
See, Priam! Here too virtue has its rewards, here too
there are tears for events, and mortal things touch the heart.
Lose your fears: this fame will bring you benefit.’


BkI:458-462
Translated by A. S. Kline © 2002 All Rights Reserved

即使在這裡，光榮也仍然獲得應得的報償；人生不幸的事也仍然贏得同情之淚；生活的痛苦也仍然打動人心。不要害怕，我們在他們眼中並不陌生，我們是相當安全的。(楊周翰譯)
http://hcbooks.blogspot.tw/2010/10/blog-post_07.html

Virgil:Aeneid I - Poetry In Translation
www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/.../VirgilAeneidI.htm
翻譯這個網頁
... to face so many. trials? Can there be such anger in the minds of the gods? .... the pain deep in his heart. They make ready the game, and the future feast: ..... See, Priam! Here too virtue has its rewards, here too. there are tears for events, and mortal things touch the heart. Lose your fears: this fame will bring you benefit.' ...


----
西方的墓誌銘習俗，多少能綜述「墓主」的貢獻。譬如說，古羅馬大詩人維吉爾的：「…….我歌唱過牧場、田園和領袖。」分別指他的三本主要詩作：《牧歌》、《農事詩》、《埃涅阿斯紀：羅馬史詩》

田園詩, 牧歌 (維吉爾)

維吉爾《埃涅阿斯紀》

楊周翰先生是我很佩服的一位專家。昨天讀但丁，取他 翻譯的《埃涅阿斯紀》（Johnson說他每夜讀它一章，12天讀畢。此法不錯），找一句的出處。我思索他為什麼要略去那句不翻…….

維吉爾《埃涅阿斯紀》楊周翰譯，南京：譯林，1999，p.14
王承教編《埃涅阿斯紀》章義，北京：華夏，2010



「特奧克托斯做為作家甚不足道，至於他的牧歌，維吉爾明顯比他高明。……特奧克托斯雖然生活在美麗的國土，但描寫不多，他寫的風習很粗鄙。維吉爾的描寫多得多，更富於情調，更多大自然，藝術性更高。」----Life of Johnson by Boswell p.1066

Theocritus is not deserving of very high respect as a writer: as to the pastoral part, Virgil is very evidently superiour He wrote when there had been a large influx of knowledge into the world than when Theocritus lived. Theocritus does not abound in the description, though living in a beautiful country: the manners painted are coarse and gross. Virgil has much more description, more sentiment, more of Nature, and more of art."

------

身為作家，忒奧克里托斯並不值得極高的評價：就田園牧歌而言，維吉爾顯然更勝一籌。維吉爾寫作的時代，世界的知識水準遠比忒奧克里托斯所生活的時代高得多。儘管忒奧克里托斯生活在一個美麗的國家，但他的描寫卻並不豐富：他筆下的風俗習慣粗俗不堪。維吉爾的描寫更加詳盡，情感更加豐富，對自然的描繪更加細膩，藝術的詮釋也更加精妙。

------

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbGV-MVfgec

發佈於 2012 年 4 月 28 日

路德維希·範·貝多芬第三號交響曲（降E大調，作品55號），柏林愛樂樂團演奏。貝多芬的《英雄交響曲》（Eroica，義大利語意為「英雄」）是一部里程碑式的音樂作品，標誌著作曲家「中期」的全面到來。這是一系列前所未有的大型作品，情感深邃，結構嚴謹。

就連帕拉斯的坐騎埃頓也在哭泣。

《埃涅阿斯紀：羅馬史詩》 - 第218頁 - 谷歌圖書搜尋結果

https://books.google.com.tw/books?isbn=0253200458

維吉爾利維·羅伯特·林德 - 1963 - 文學評論

戰馬埃頓跟在他們身後，它的裝飾已被卸下；90 它哭泣著……當戰友們的隊伍先行通過後，埃涅阿斯停下了腳步。

《埃涅阿斯紀》：羅馬史詩

維吉爾著，利維·羅伯特·林德譯

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbGV-MVfgec
Published on Apr 28, 2012


Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (Op. 55),Berliner Philharmoniker Symphony Numer Three Eroica By Beethoven also known as the Eroica (Italian for "heroic"), is a landmark musical work marking the full arrival of the composer's "middle-period," a series of unprecedented large scale works of emotional depth and structural rigor.

 Even Aethon, the horse of Pallas, was crying.

The Aeneid: An Epic Poem of Rome - Page 218 - Google Books Result

https://books.google.com.tw/books?isbn=0253200458

Virgil, ‎Levi Robert Lind - 1963 - ‎Literary Criticism

Behind them walked Aethon, the war horse, his trappings removed; 90 He wept, ... When the procession of comrades Had passed on ahead, Aeneas stood still.

The Aeneid: An Epic Poem of Rome

By Virgil, Levi Robert Lind

"the best of all possible worlds" ；從《老實人 (Candide)》的 "Make Our Garden Grow" /cultivate our garden 說起

1778年的今天，伏爾泰結束了28年的流亡生涯，回到法國巴黎。

「我曾無數次想要自殺，但不知為何，我依然熱愛生命。這種可笑的弱點或許是我們最愚蠢的憂鬱傾向之一，因為還有什麼比渴望背負一個自己樂於拋棄的重擔更愚蠢的呢？還有什麼比厭惡自己的存在卻又緊緊抓住它不放更愚蠢的呢？還有什麼比愚蠢的呢？還有什麼比厭惡自己的存在卻又緊緊抓住它不放更愚蠢的呢？還有什麼比愚蠢的蛇類

——摘自《老實人》

《老實人》講述了一個溫和的男人，儘管命運百般刁難，卻依然執著地相信自己生活在「所有可能的世界中最美好的世界」中。表面上看，這是一部詼諧幽默、妙語連珠的十八世紀經典之作，實則是一部辛辣諷刺的哲學樂觀主義作品，這種樂觀主義宣稱一切災難和人類苦難都是仁慈的宇宙計劃的一部分。這部節奏明快、妙趣橫生、常常令人匪夷所思的法國哲學家筆下的不朽故事，帶領主人公坎迪德環遊世界，最終發現——與他傑出的導師龐格羅斯博士的教誨截然相反——並非一切都盡如人意。這部充滿智慧、才華洋溢、敘事優美的作品，已成為伏爾泰最負盛名的作品。點擊此處閱讀更多：

Voltaire returned to Paris, France on this day in 1778, after being exiled for 28 years.

“I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our more stupid melancholy propensities, for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one’s very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?”
―from CANDIDE

Candide is the story of a gentle man who, though pummeled and slapped in every direction by fate, clings desperately to the belief that he lives in “the best of all possible worlds.” On the surface a witty, bantering tale, this eighteenth-century classic is actually a savage, satiric thrust at the philosophical optimism that proclaims that all disaster and human suffering is part of a benevolent cosmic plan. Fast, funny, often outrageous, the French philosopher’s immortal narrative takes Candide around the world to discover that — contrary to the teachings of his distinguished tutor Dr. Pangloss — all is not always for the best. Alive with wit, brilliance, and graceful storytelling, Candide has become Voltaire’s most celebrated work. READ more here: http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/…/candide-and-other-stor…/#

伏爾泰著《老實人》的漢文譯本可能超過十種。我讀過傅雷和沈昉先生的 (徐志摩的......)。

在I. Calvino著《憨第德（或譯老實人），或是關於敘述的快》（Candide, or Concerning Narrative Rapidity）的結論是：「今日人們在生活中的真正選擇都來自於這本書。」
（ Italo Calvino 著《為什麼讀經典》 ( Why Read the Classics? 1991 ) ，（李桂蜜譯，pp.114-18）

讀這篇導論的意外收獲不少。譬如說你可以找Paul Klee對本書的26幅插畫來對照。
又譬如說，以前介紹過趙琴的《閹人歌手(Castrato)的興盛與衰亡》，可以在《老實人 第12章 老婦人遭遇的下文》讀到：「我生在那不勒斯，那兒每年閹割二三千名兒童，…..有的因此得到一副比女人還美麗的嗓子，還有的將統治國家。」

這次還發現其中有許多作者對宗教、政治、社會、工作等的看法。特別是末章談工作。據說作者很贊成重農學派的學說。

至於翻譯方面的問題可以談的相當多，我就用末章舉兩例子。

一是伊斯蘭的 dervish 解釋A member of any of various Muslim ascetic orders, some of which perform whirling dances and vigorous chanting as acts of ecstatic devotion.

李譯：「托缽僧」
傅雷；修道士
沈昉：苦行僧

更重要的區別在末句名言：il faut cultiver notre jardin
英文為 cultivate our garden

李譯：必須灌溉我們的花園
傅雷；種咱們的園地要緊---前文都翻譯為「分耕田」
沈昉：把我們的園地種好更要緊---前文都翻譯為菜園子
李的翻譯顯然錯誤。這garden 可以種花、草、菜、果
我起先對於傅雷都翻譯為「分耕田」感到不解。
後來才知道他用心。

因為我查Shorter O.E.D.
CULTIVATE ONE’S GARDEN 之garden 竟然是等同 common（社區之公地，種植放牧等 現在英美都還有這種園...）。

Candide by Voltaire, illustrated edition published by The Folio Society (2011)
Eternal optimist Dr Pangloss is hanged.
Illustration: Quentin Blake

Pangloss (a coinage from Greek, meaning ‘all languages’) may refer to:

• Pangloss, a fictional character in the 1759 novel Candide by Voltaire: Pangloss is a Leibnizian philosopher, the personal tutor of the main character Candide;

《老實人，或樂觀主義》（法文：Candide, ou l'Optimisme，/ˌkænˈdiːd/；[kɑ̃did]）是法國啟蒙運動時期哲學家伏爾泰於1759年首次發表的諷刺小說。這部中篇小說已被廣泛翻譯，英文譯本包括《老實人：或一切為了最好》（Candide: or, All for the Best，1759）、《老實人：或樂觀主義者》（Candide: or, The Optimist，1762）和《老實人：或樂觀主義》（Candide: or, The Optimist，1762）和《老實人：或樂觀主義》（Candismide: or, Optimism，1947）。 [5] 小說以年輕的老實人老實人開篇，他原本生活在伊甸園般的世外桃源，在導師龐格羅斯的教導下，接受萊布尼茨式樂觀主義（或簡稱樂觀主義）的灌輸。 [6] 小說描寫了這種生活方式的突然終結，以及老實人在目睹和經歷世間種種苦難後，逐漸痛苦地幻滅的過程。伏爾泰在《老實人》的結尾，即便沒有徹底否定樂觀主義，也提倡了一種極其務實的準則——“我們必須耕耘自己的花園”，而非萊布尼茨筆下潘格羅斯的格言“一切都是最好的安排”，即在“所有可能世界中最好的那個”。

《老實人》的特色在於其諷刺的語氣，以及離奇古怪、節奏飛快的劇情。這部流浪漢小說的故事與較為嚴肅的成長小說有相似之處，它戲仿了許多冒險和愛情的陳詞濫調，並以一種辛辣而又冷峻的口吻，對其中的種種掙扎進行了誇張的刻畫。儘管如此，書中討論的事件往往取材自歷史事件，例如七年戰爭和1755年里斯本大地震。 [7]正如伏爾泰時代的哲學家們探討邪惡問題一樣，《老實人》這部短篇小說也探討了這個問題，儘管伏爾泰的表達方式更為直接和幽默。伏爾泰運用寓言手法，對宗教、神學家、政府、軍隊、哲學以及哲學家本人進行了辛辣的諷刺；其中最引人注目的是他對萊布尼茨及其樂觀主義的抨擊。 [8][9]

正如伏爾泰所預料的那樣，《老實人》既獲得了巨大的成功，也引發了巨大的爭議。該書秘密出版後立即遭到廣泛禁售，因為它包含褻瀆神明、煽動政治叛亂以及隱藏在天真表象之下的思想敵對。 [8] 然而，憑藉其敏銳的智慧和對人性的深刻洞察，這部小說啟發了許多後世的作家和藝術家進行模仿和改編。如今，《老實人》被認為是伏爾泰的代表作[8]，並經常被列入西方經典作品；可以說，它的教學量超過了任何其他法國文學作品。 [10] 馬丁·西摩-史密斯在他的思想史著作中將《老實人》列為有史以來最具影響力的100本書之一。

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candide

Candide, ou l'Optimisme (/ˌkænˈdiːd/; French: [kɑ̃did]) is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candide: or, All for the Best (1759);Candide: or, The Optimist (1762); and Candide: or, Optimism (1947).^[5] It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism (or simply Optimism) by his mentor, Pangloss.^[6]The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow, painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes with Candide, if not rejecting optimism outright, advocating a deeply practical precept, "we must cultivate our garden", in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, "all is for the best" in the "best of all possible worlds".

Candide is characterised by its sarcastic tone, as well as by its erratic, fantastical and fast-moving plot. A picaresque novel with a story similar to that of a more seriousbildungsroman, it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact. Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.^[7] As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so too does Candide in this short novel, albeit more directly and humorously. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers throughallegory; most conspicuously, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism.^[8][9]

As expected by Voltaire, Candide has enjoyed both great success and great scandal. Immediately after its secretive publication, the book was widely banned because it contained religious blasphemy, political sedition and intellectual hostility hidden under a thin veil of naïveté.^[8] However, with its sharp wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition, the novel has since inspired many later authors and artists to mimic and adapt it. Today, Candide is recognized as Voltaire's magnum opus^[8] and is often listed as part of the Western canon; it is arguably taught more than any other work of French literature.^[10] In his book of intellectual history Martin Seymour-Smith listed Candide as one of The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written.

Editions

• Voltaire (1759).  Candide. Trans. Tobias Smollett. Wikisource.
• Voltaire (in French).  Candide. Wikisource.
•  Quotations related to Candide at Wikiquote
  
  Candide at Project Gutenberg (plain text and HTML)

2014.10.14

Leonard Bernstein

1 小時 · 

On this date in 1982, the "opera house" version of Candide opened at the New York State Theater. Directed by Harold Prince and choreographed by Patricia Birch, the performance received positive reviews and went on to be performed at numerous opera houses.

In his October 14, 1982 review, published in The New York Times, Donal Henahan wrote, "The new 'opera house version' of 'Candide' was performed so brilliantly that one would have thought it had been running for months rather than being mounted as part of the opera company's usual hectic schedule. In fact, the audience gave the composer a standing ovation when he arrived, fashionably late, before the first act, and again before the start of the last act."

Here is an audio recording of "Make Our Garden Grow" from the 1982 New York State Theater production of Candide.

http://youtu.be/PhEftCnDrBc

"Make Our Garden Grow" - Candide, New York City Opera, 1982

YOUTUBE.COM

歌詞http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/candide/finalemakeourgardengrow.htm

CANDIDE
You've been a fool
And so have I,
But come and be my wife.
And let us try,
Before we die,
To make some sense of life.
We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow...
And make our garden grow.

CUNEGONDE
I thought the world
Was sugar cake
For so our master said.
But, now I'll teach
My hands to bake
Our loaf of daily bread.

CANDIDE AND CUNEGONDE
We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow...
And make our garden grow.

(ensemble enters in gardening gear and a cow walks on)

CANDIDE, CUNEGONDE, MAXIMILLIAN, PAQUETTE, OLD LADY, DR. PANGLOSS
Let dreamers dream
What worlds they please
Those Edens can't be found.
The sweetest flowers,
The fairest trees
Are grown in solid ground.

ENSEMBLE (a cappella)
We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow.
And make our garden grow!

(The cow dies)

VOLTAIRE
Ah, me! The pox!








「潘格羅士講授形而上學，神學、宇宙論，虛無主義，他以令人驚奇的方式證明，沒有無因之果，在眾多可能的世界當中的這個最好的世界上，仁慈的男爵大人的宮殿是所有宮殿中最美的。『已經證明』，他說：『事物不可能被創造成另一副樣子。既然一切都是為了某一個目的而創造的，一切必然用於最好的目的。要記住，鼻子是為戴眼鏡而做成的，所以，我們才有眼鏡。腿顯然是為穿鞋而安排的，於是，我們才有了鞋襪。石頭的創造是為了讓人們開採它用來建造宮殿，因而仁慈的大人才有了美妙的宮殿』」。

這一小段文字大概是伏爾泰諷刺小說《憨第德》當中最常被人引用的一段話。因此，影射萊布尼茨的角色潘格羅士也就成了這位哲人的標準造像。他表面上博學多才，實則迂腐不堪；明明世上充滿罪惡不公與災難，他卻以自己躲在書齋裏想出來的哲學證明「我們的世界，是上帝所創造的一切可能世界當中至為美好的一個」，樂觀到無可救藥的地步。自從伏爾泰以降，每逢發生什麼大事，例如第一次世界大戰與後來的納粹集中營屠殺，西方就一定有作家和學者重提萊布尼茨這句名言，當然是諷刺式的引用。此世如此不堪，你竟然還好意思說它好得不能再好？莫非另一個更美、更善、更公正的世界真的不存在？不值得盼望？不值得追求？

The phrase "the best of all possible worlds" (French: le meilleur des mondes possibles;German: Die beste aller möglichen Welten) was coined by the German polymath Gottfried Leibniz in his 1710 work Essais de Théodicée sur la bonté de Dieu, la liberté de l'homme et l'origine du mal (Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil). The claim that the actual world is the best of all possible worlds is the central argument in Leibniz's theodicy, or his attempt to solve the problem of evil.

The statement that "we live in the best of all possible worlds" drew scorn, most notably from Voltaire, who lampooned it in his comic novella Candide by having the character Dr. Pangloss (a parody of Leibniz and Maupertuis) repeat it like a mantra. From this, the adjective "Panglossian" describes a person who believes that the world about us is the best possible one.

Everyman's Library

"Master Pangloss taught the metaphysico-theologo-cosmolonigology. He could prove admirably that there is no effect without a cause, and in this best of all possible worlds the baron's castle was the most magnificent of all castles, and my lady the best of all possible baronesses."
--from CANDIDE (1759) by Voltaire

Candide is the story of a gentle man who, though pummeled and slapped in every direction by fate, clings desperately to the belief that he lives in "the best of al⋯⋯

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