best of all possible worlds, the

best of all possible worlds, the

Everything is for the best. This expression of blind optimism occurs in Voltaire’s Candide (1758), where through Dr. Pangloss the author pokes fun at the German philosopher Leibnitz. The full saying is “All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.” It has been identified with overoptimism ever since. On the other hand, all is for the best was already considered a profound if fatalistic truth by the Roman orator Cicero (50 b.c.), was repeated a number of times by Chaucer, and was echoed by modern sages, among them Benjamin Franklin (Poor Richard’s Almanack). Not everyone agrees. “I hate the Pollyanna pest who says that All Is for the Best,” wrote Franklin P. Adams (1924).
See also: all, of, possible
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • said
  • stone blind
  • stone-blind
  • blind drunk
  • blind as a bat/beetle/mole
  • final fling
  • blind
  • blinded
  • visually impaired
  • turn a blind eye
References in periodicals archive
In the best of all possible worlds, the print brands with the poor- est recent sales performances, in terms of newsstand and sub- scriptions, would be the ones making the greatest noise in the iPad space.
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"If we were in the best of all possible worlds, the American electorate would be so frightened by the harvest of hatred that is the consequence of their government's policies in the Middle East, and demand a change.
A life in stained glass: Cameron Duodu looks back on his long years with New African and picks the article he did after 9/11 as a reminder of the lessons the world should learn on the 9th anniversary of that tragedy in September 2001
NEW YORK-In this best of all possible worlds, the major-appliance business continues to run at 10 percent annual compounded growth, setting records every month.
WHITE-GOODS BOOM IS NOT QUITE UNIVERSAL
In the best of all possible worlds, the source will be reprinted in a critical edition, which provides an intellectual guide through the current interpretation of the problems at hand.
Alfred Marshall's "Lectures to Women": Some Economic Questions Directly Connected to the Welfare of the Laborer
In the best of all possible worlds, the mobility device you use to get around could never be damaged or cause other problems.
CONSUMER ALERT!!
In the best of all possible worlds, the campaigns would raise enough populist outcry to smother the idea stillborn.
Staying the course