Quotations and Literature Forum

Can somebody tell me who said any of the following?"Napoleon, the synthesis of brute and Superman." "Man simply is, man is nothing else than that which he makes of himself. That is the first principle." "All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds." "They detest war as a brutal thing." and ""I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately; I wanted to live deep and suck all the marrow of life." If anyone could help me out here it would be greatly appreciated. My friend and I are having a little contest and these are the only ones on the list she gave me that I am having trouble with! Thanks for any help!

The first ("Napoleon, synthesis of brute and Superman") is Nietszche. "All is for the best in this best of all possible worlds" is from Voltaire's satire Candide. It represents the philosophy the protagonists believe at the outset of the novel. "I went to the woods, etc." is from Henry David Thoreau's Walden, explaining why he lived two years outside in the woods around Walden Pond.

"The best of all possible worlds" originates with Leibniz, not Voltaire. It's part of his philosophy of Optimism, which Voltaire mocks in Candide. The character Dr. Pangloss ("All-tongue") is a brutal take-off on Leibniz.

Mr. Fussbudget

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Mr. Fussbudget

True wit is nature to advantage dressed,
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed.

That's also the origin of the (rare) word Panglossian (meaning: blindly optimistic) if I'm not mistaken.

http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict. ... anglossian

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Michael Moncur
Owner and maintainer, The Quotations Page