Candide; or Optimism

'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' - that's the essence of Voltaire's 'Candide'. For, like the ever-upbeat character in 'Monty Python's Life of Brian', the eponymous Candide is taught that everything is for the best. The young Frenchman must not grumble, grimace or lose heart.

However, when he is cast out for falling for the daughter of a Baron, his sunny disposition is sorely tested by global disasters including earthquakes, the Inquisition and syphilis.

'Candide' was initially banned because of blasphemy and political sedition. But the satire has since become one of the great novels in European history.