A philosophical novel along the lines of Candide. Both books are entertaining in their lampooning of clichès and accepted truths. In Zadig, no good deed goes unpunished. He is cheated, accused wrongly, misunderstood--and at all times he is honorable, the epitome of the good citizen. Perfect length--these aren't characters in the normal sense of a novel. It's a bit like an intellectual puppet show.
Medicine: "It would have been better had it been the right eye," said the doctor. "I could easily have cured it, but the wounds of the left eye are incurable."
Observation: "Zadig chiefly studied the properties of plants and animals; and soon acquired a sagacity that made him discover a thousand differences where other men see nothing but uniformity." This is a very good description of Charles Darwin--exactly his attributes
Love/Desire: "A growing passion, which we endeavor to suppress, discovers itself in spite of all our efforts to the contrary; but love, when gratified, is easily concealed."
Why misery loves company: "Two men in distress are like two slender trees, which, mutually supporting each other, fortify themselves against the storm."
On health: Temperance and exercise are the two great preservatives of health; and the art of reconciling intemperance and health is as chimerical as the philosopher's stone."
On fate: "There is no such thing as chance; all is either a trial, or a punishment, or a reward, or a foresight." (I like the "weaving" passage in Moby Dick much more.)
Medicine: "It would have been better had it been the right eye," said the doctor. "I could easily have cured it, but the wounds of the left eye are incurable."
Observation: "Zadig chiefly studied the properties of plants and animals; and soon acquired a sagacity that made him discover a thousand differences where other men see nothing but uniformity." This is a very good description of Charles Darwin--exactly his attributes
Love/Desire: "A growing passion, which we endeavor to suppress, discovers itself in spite of all our efforts to the contrary; but love, when gratified, is easily concealed."
Why misery loves company: "Two men in distress are like two slender trees, which, mutually supporting each other, fortify themselves against the storm."
On health: Temperance and exercise are the two great preservatives of health; and the art of reconciling intemperance and health is as chimerical as the philosopher's stone."
On fate: "There is no such thing as chance; all is either a trial, or a punishment, or a reward, or a foresight." (I like the "weaving" passage in Moby Dick much more.)
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