Candide �Quotes for Discussion�Chapters XI-XIX
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Scenes such as these [women and other innocents killed by pirates and soldiers] took place all over that country, as I know full well—and it is three hundred leagues across. Yet they will not miss one of the five daily prayers prescribed by Mahomet.
Chapt XI – page 52-53
I [the old woman] have grown old (with only half a behind) in misery and shame, but I have never forgotten that I am the daughter of a Pope. I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life.
Chapt XII – page 57
While each passenger was telling his story the ship was making good progress…
Chapt XIII – page 58
An excellent dinner was served on gold plates, and while the Paraguayans ate their maize on wooden dishes in the open field in the full blaze of the sun, his reverence the Colonel retired to the shade of his arbour.
Chapt XIV – page 63
“We are engaging the King of Spain’s troops with the utmost vigor, and I assure you they will be excommunicated and beaten.” (the Baron)
Chapt XV – page 66
“The rulers of Paraguay accept as few Spanish Jesuits as they can; they perefer strangers, since they think they can get the better of them.” (the Baron)
Chapt XV – page 66
“You insolent fellow!” exclaimed the Baron. “You have the impudence to think of marrying my sister, who has seventy-two quarterings in her coat of arms, and you talk to me of such a hot-headed notion? Have you no sense of shame?”�
Chapt XV – pg 67
“What have I done! I have killed my old master, my friend, and my brother-in-law! I am the best-tempered man there ever was, yet I have already killed three men, and two of them were priests!” (Candide)
Chapter XV page 67
“What is the use of prolonging my miserable existence, if I must drag out my days in remorse and despair at being banished from her presence? And what will the Jesuit periodicals say?” (Candide)
Chapter XVI – page 68
“While [Candide was] giving vent to these melancholy reflections he was making a hearty meal.”
Chapter XVI – page 69
“Thank Heaven for that [killing the 2 monkeys], my dear Cacambo! He [Candide] exclaimed. “I have delivered those two poor creatures from grave danger.”
Chapter XVI
Page 69
“What would Professor Pangloss say if he had seen how unsophisticated nature behaves? No doubt all is for the best, but I must say it is very cruel to have lost Lady Cunegonde and to be skewered by the Oreillons.” (Candide)
Chapter XVI – page 71
“Then don’t fail to make them [the Oreillons who are about eat them] understand, said Candide, “how outrageously inhuman it is to cook their fellow-men, and that it’s scarely the act of a Christian.”
Chapter XVI – page 71
Candide was full of admiration and kept harping on his deliverance. “What grand people they are! he said. “What fine fellows! And what culture!”
Chapter XVI
Page 72
“The new world, you see, is no better than the old; take my advice and let’s return to Europe as quickly as we can.” (Cacambo)
Chapter XVII page 73
“If we don’t find anything pleasant, we shall at least find something fresh.” (Cacambo)��[they arrive at El Dorado by drifting in the stream]
Chapter XVI page 74
[On first arriving at El Dorado] The farmer and the landscape gardener had been equally busy in this country side, and everything which served the needs of man was pleasing to the sight.
Chapter XVII page 74
“This is a better sort of country than Westpahlia,” said Candide.
Chapter XVII page 74-75
Candide picked them [the jewels and gold] up and, running after the tutor, handed them to him with a deep bow and made signs to show that Their Royal Highnesses had forgotten their gold nuggets and precious stones. The village schoolmaster smiled and threw them away…
Chapter XVII – page 75
[their dinner]: “each garnished with two parakeets, a boiled vulture weighing about two hundred pounds, two delicious roast monkeys…”
Chapter XVII page 76
“What country can this be?” said one to the other. “It must be unknown to the rest of the world, because everything is so different from what we are used to. It is probably the country where all goes well; for there must obviously be some such place. And whatever Professor Pangloss might say, I often noticed that all went badly in Westphalia.” (Cacambo and Candide)�
Chapter XVII page 77
“With the agreement of the whole nation, they made a law that no inhabitant should ever leave our little kingdom; and that is how our innocence and happiness have been preserved.” (the El Dorado elder)
Chapter XVIII page 78
“The kingdom where we live used to be inhabited by the Incas, who imprudently left it to subdue another part of the world, and were finally exterminated by the Spaniards.” (the El Dorado elder)
Chapter XVIII page 78
After being told that the people do not pray but instead give thanks all day – “Candide was curious to see some of their priests, and told Cacambo to ask where they could be found.”… The old man smiled. “My friends,” said he, “we are all priests…”
Chapter XVIII page 80
Chapter XVIII page 80
“This is quite different from Westphalia and the Baron’s mansion: if our friend Pangloss had seen Eldorado, he would not have kept on saying that Castle-Thunder-ten-tronckh was the loveliest house on earth; it shows that people ought to travel”
Cacambo asked one of the lords-in-waiting how he should behave in saluting His Majesty; should he fall on his knees or should he grovel… “The custom is,” said the lord-in-waiting, “to embrace the King and kiss him on both cheeks.”
Chapter XVIII page 81
Candide asked to see the Law Courts [and prisons] and is told that there are none.
Chapter XVIII pages 81 - 82
Cacambo interpreted the King’s witticisms to Candide, who found them still witty in translation, a point which surprised him as much as anything he heard or saw.
Chapter XVIII page 82
“It is quite true, my good fellow, that the house where I was born won’t bear comparison with the mansion of this country; but still I shall never be happy without Lady Cunegonde… If we stay here, we shall be no different from anybody else; but if we go back to the old world with a mere twelve sheep laden with Elorado stones, we shall be richer than all the kings of Europe put together.”
Chapter XVIII page 82
“So these happy men decide to be happy no longer and to make leave of His Majesty.”
Chapter XVIII page 83
My heart is warm with friends I make,
And better friends I'll not be knowing;
Yet there isn't a train I'd rather take,
No matter where it's going.
“Travel” Edna St. Vincent Millay
“Those of us who work in the factories and happen to catch a finger in the grindstone have a hand chopped off; if we try to escape, they cut off one leg. Both accidents happened to me. That’s the price of your eating sugar in Europe.” The slave that Cacambo and Candide meet in Surinam.
Chapter XIX page 86
Hypocrites are we who shed a tear, tell a friend, fast on Valentine's Day.
Then, just like a predator lures its prey with a deceiving smile, take hold of little chocolate hands saying, `It's going to be all right,' and lead them to the fields for just one more harvest
From “Cocoa Beans” by Freda Dennis Cooper.
“I am no genealogist; but if these preachers speak the truth, we must all be cousins. Now, you will surely agree that relations could not be treated more horribly.”
Chapter XIX page 86
“What is optimism?” asked Cacambo. ��“It’s the passion for maintaining that all is right when all goes wrong with us,” replied Candide.
Chapter XIX page 86