Q0063
“We must cultivate our garden.” — Voltaire (Candide, Ch. 30)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Candide, Ch. 30. Theme: action.
English
We must cultivate our garden.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Candide, Ch. 30 and files it under Political Liberalism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Voltaire
Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet, 1694–1778) was the French Enlightenment’s sharpest satirist and campaigner for toleration, author of Candide and countless polemics. Imprisoned in the Bastille, exiled in England, resident at Cirey and Ferney, he fought judicial fanaticism in cases such as Calas.
How to read this passage
Philosophy of action asks how intentions, reasons, habits, and consequences hang together. Ethical traditions often insist that knowing the good is incomplete without doing it. This passage enters that discussion through action.
Concepts in this quote
- Action
- Action concerns agency: what it is to do something intentionally, and how thought becomes practice.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Voltaire. (n.d.). We must cultivate our garden. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0063
MLA: Voltaire. “We must cultivate our garden..” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0063.
Chicago: Voltaire. “We must cultivate our garden..” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0063.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “We must cultivate our garden.”?
The passage is attributed to Voltaire, Candide, Ch. 30. The archive attributes this English wording to Candide, Ch. 30 and files it under Political Liberalism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Voltaire mean by action?
Philosophy of action asks how intentions, reasons, habits, and consequences hang together. Ethical traditions often insist that knowing the good is incomplete without doing it. This passage enters that discussion through action.