Voltaire

This article is about GritCult's view of Voltaire. For a general overview, see Voltaire on Wikipedia.

Voltaire
“Voltaire: "No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking."” (18 February 2026)
In the archive
Portal	The Philosophers
Posts	37
Retweets	1,068
Likes	8,106
First post	1 March 2018
Latest post	18 February 2026
Posts by year
201817
20191
20207
20215
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Related
Aristotle C.S. Lewis Camus Christianity & God Crypto

Voltaire appears in 37 posts, and most of his reach comes from one sentence on sustained thinking, which GritCult calls one of his favourite quotes of all time. Beyond it, Voltaire is a patron of good questions and the author of Candide, a book GritCult loves and argues with.

Views

The sustained-thinking line, posted in December 2025 under the words 'One of my favourite quotes of all time' ^[1] and again in February 2026, accounts for the great majority of his Voltaire engagement. It fits a wider use of Voltaire as a patron of rigour. 'Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers' anchors a 2020 thread that opens by abusing people who ask questions only to look smart and closes with a promise: 'I will teach YOU how to blow minds with questions.' ^[2]. For GritCult the quality of a mind shows in what it asks and in how long it is willing to keep thinking.

Candide is the Voltaire book he returns to. In October 2018 he posted a run of excerpts from it, including lines on work, among them the claim that 'man was not born to be idle' ^[3], along with the famous instruction to cultivate one's garden ^[4]. In 2020 he prescribed Voltaire as a cure for sentimentality: 'a reading of voltaire will sober you from such idealisations' ^[5]. Five years after the thread he was still calling Candide 'One of the most powerful books I've ever read', a novel whose ending he quotes verbatim ^[6].

Yet he does not accept Voltaire's conclusion. The same 2023 post disagrees with the philosophical notion behind the satire of Panglossian optimism, holding that 'It's a better solution to see the silver lining of the cloud' ^[6]. In 2019 he went further, musing that the world might have been better off had it put 'Leibniz over Voltaire' ^[7]. GritCult keeps the method (sustained thought, sharp questions, honest work in the garden) and drops the pessimism. Even the collapse of NFT fortunes in 2022 struck him as a tale of fate: the 'Crypto economy reads like a Voltaire novel' ^[8].

Recurring themes

• sustained thinking as a universal solvent
• judging men by their questions
• work and the cultivated garden
• Candide loved, its pessimism rejected
• pragmatism over sentiment

Notable post

The most retweeted GritCult post on the subject, with 634 retweets:

Selected posts

All 37 posts in the archive about Voltaire, ranked by retweets. Select a column heading to sort.

Date	Retweets	Likes	Post	Media	Source
14 December 2025	634	4,642	One of my favourite quotes of all time: "No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking" - Voltaire		View
18 February 2026	322	2,703	Voltaire: "No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking."		View
11 August 2020	33	162	Do NOT "ask questions" for the sake of asking questions like a FUCKING idiot wasting time trying to look smart. Learn to ask GOOD questions. “Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”-Voltaire I will teach YOU how to blow minds with questions. ~THREAD~		View
29 September 2021	9	45	"IT IS DANGEROUS TO BE RIGHT WHEN THE GOVERNMENT IS WRONG." - VOLTAIRE		View
10 October 2018	8	36	“Fools have a habit of believing that everything written by a famous author is admirable. For my part I read only to please myself and like only what suits my taste.” ― Voltaire, Candide		View
16 April 2021	7	62	"The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing." ~ Voltaire		View
10 October 2018	7	30	I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. ― Voltaire, Candide: or, Optimism		View
23 November 2021	6	57	"The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood." - Voltaire		View
14 July 2021	4	22	"THE MORE I READ, THE MORE I ACQUIRE, THE MORE CERTAIN I AM THAT I KNOW NOTHING." ~ VOLTAIRE		View
17 November 2018	4	20	"The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom." -- Voltaire		View
13 October 2023	3	30	Voltaire.		View
12 March 2020	3	23	“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” ― Voltaire		View
29 July 2020	3	23	"Lord, protect me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies." -Voltaire		View
10 October 2018	3	14	Voltaire quotes and excerpts		View
10 October 2018	3	13	“when man was put into the garden of eden, he was put there with the idea that he should work the land; and this proves that man was not born to be idle.” ― Voltaire, Candide		View
17 March 2023	2	25	“God protect me from my friends. I can handle my enemies.” Voltaire.		View
8 September 2023	2	24	One of the most powerful books I’ve ever read. Candide by Voltaire It’s ending is one I still quote verbatim. But I disagree with the philosophical notion that gave birth to “Panglossian”ism satired. It’s a better solution to see the silver lining of the cloud than to drown…		View
10 October 2018	2	12	“A State can be no better than the citizens of which it is composed. Our labour now is not to mould States but make citizens.” ― voltaire, Candide		View
29 November 2020	2	10	Let us read and let us dance; two amusements that will never do any harm. - Voltaire		View
10 October 2018	2	9	“Isn't there a pleasure in criticising everything and discovering faults where other men detect beauties?” ― Voltaire, Candide		View
20 May 2019	2	9	Anon: Mr. @GRITCULT thinking about German idealism again? Mr. @GRITCULT : not directly, but I am thinking about how if the world had rather put Leibniz over Voltaire we may have collectively been better off. Looking back, as Leibniz would agree, things could be worse.		View
17 January 2022	1	16	THINK FOR YOURSELF AND LET OTHERS ENJOY THE PRIVILEGE OF DOING SO TOO. - VOLTAIRE		View
10 October 2018	1	11	“Fools admire everything in an author of reputation.” ― Voltaire, Candide		View
10 October 2018	1	11	“Let us cultivate our garden.” ― Voltaire, Candide		View
10 November 2018	1	10	Mundanity of twitter. I wish Voltaire had twitter so I would be able to see his take on the pop culture dance song : alors on danse that french song Many are trapped in their own echo bubble. Ignorance is a choice in the age of information.		View
15 August 2020	1	10	Too many people are sentimental, they hold on to intangibles, they have romanticised ideals in their minds. i think this is beautiful, but it is also a great cause of misery, a reading of voltaire will sober you from such idealisations. Be pragmatic, and accept reality.		View
15 June 2022	1	9	Imagining listening to anyone at nft nyc. Having their Net worths from funny looking pics all crash is a pretty interesting tale of fate. Crypto economy reads like a Voltaire novel		View
10 October 2018	1	7	“Everywhere the weak execrate the powerful, before whom they cringe; and the powerful beat them like sheep whose wool and flesh they sell.” ― Voltaire, Candide		View
15 May 2021	0	30	Why are questions important? “Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”-Voltaire the last couple of weeks i have been interviewing		View
10 October 2018	0	11	“Our labour preserves us from three great evils -- weariness, vice, and want.” ― Voltaire, Candide		View
10 October 2018	0	9	“Even in those cities which seem to enjoy the blessings of peace, and where the arts florish, the inhabitants are devoured by envy, cares and anxieties, which are greater plagues than any expirienced in a town when it is under siege.” ― Voltaire, Candide		View
10 October 2018	0	9	“the women are never at a loss, God provides for them, let us run.” ― Voltaire, Candide		View
15 August 2018	0	1	@PopulismUpdates ive read the voltaire story, didnt know there was a film, cant find it		View
18 November 2018	0	1	@jposhaughnessy It really is a good one. I personally wouldn't my reading list as it is, has grown to the point of intimidation. The next Voltaire I am yet to read is l'ingenu.		View
1 March 2018	0	0	@Kamz_Woshi Ive grown pessimistic. Cant remember who said it probably Voltaire. "When trying to change people consider how hard it is to change yourself"		View
3 June 2020	0	0	@CartlundM @giantgio My first Voltaire novella. Was thinking about it recently. We must tend our gardens. Still holds true.		View
26 October 2020	0	0	@AbuShajaah @TenMillionIQ I think Voltaire wrote one too		View

History

GritCult first posted about Voltaire on 1 March 2018, and most recently on 18 February 2026. Across the archive the subject comes up 37 times, most often in 2018 (17 posts).

See also

The Philosophers portal

References

1. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (14 December 2025). One of my favourite quotes of all time: ... No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking. X.
2. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (11 August 2020). Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers. ... I will teach YOU how to blow minds with questions. X.
3. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (10 October 2018). this proves that man was not born to be idle. X.
4. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (10 October 2018). Let us cultivate our garden. X.
5. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (15 August 2020). a reading of voltaire will sober you from such idealisations. X.
6. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (8 September 2023). One of the most powerful books I've ever read. ... It's a better solution to see the silver lining of the cloud. X.
7. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (20 May 2019). if the world had rather put Leibniz over Voltaire we may have collectively been better off. X.
8. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (15 June 2022). Crypto economy reads like a Voltaire novel. X.

External links

• Posts about Voltaire by GRITCULT on X
• Voltaire on Wikipedia