Rainy days are relaxing and sometimes lovely in and of themselves. But sometimes the “rainy gloom” is a feeling inside, and you need a pick me up. On such a day, I think of the quote by french author Voltaire. Time to curl up with a good book.
“The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.
Voltaire
In the garden of thoughts or ideas, one should cultivate sense and weed out
the nonsense.”
Top: Voltaire en conversation avec un groupe de paysans à Ferney – “Voltaire in conversation with a group at Ferney, his home.”
Bottom left: Paper Cutouts of Voltaire.
Bottom right: Voltaire narrates a fable to visitors.
Jean Huber, an artist, popularized the art of silhouette cutouts and caricatures. His “scenes of notable figures from the day” also made Jean Huber famous. His many caricatures show the whimsical side of Voltaire.
Voltaire was known for his fanciful wit and good humor. My favorite painting is of him dancing for children in a garden at his home.
You may enjoy this book, 100 Inspirational Quotes By Voltaire: A Boost Of Wisdom And Inspiration From The Legendary French Philosopher, by David Smith.
François Marie Arouet de Voltaire 1694 – 1778
Voltaire was born the fifth child of François Arouet, a Notary, and Marie Marguerite D’Aumard, in Paris on November 20th, 1694.
In actual fact, his surname was Arouet. He made up his famous last name, “Voltaire,” as a nom-de-plume and a play on words. A region inspired it in France called Airvault, a place in the Deux-Sèvres area of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France and located on the Thouet River.
About the Arouet or Voltaire Family
The Arouet Family looked back with satisfaction on two hundred years of history, which quietly evolved along with a discreet and prudent pattern of life, from humble artisans to prosperous merchants and tanners. Voltaire’s father was a respected notary and collector of spice taxes in the Royal Exchequer. In the service of Royalty, the Arouets managed to acquire a coat of arms.
Voltaire would later shatter the formal and austere patterns accepted by the social norms of his day!
It seems Voltaire himself later observed about his early life ‘that he was obviously born with two feet in the grave,’ for at his birth, it was thought that he would not live. He lost his mother at the tender age of seven. She had been a friend of the Abbé de Chateauneuf – Voltaire’s godfather – who later encouraged him to appreciate the world of literature.
At the age of ten, he was boarded with and entrusted to the learned fathers at the famous Jesuit College, Louis-le-Grand. The College followed the Renaissance practice of familiarizing its students with acting. The pupils were expected to perform in Plays in both Latin and French.
Here the foundation was laid for Voltaire’s lifelong passion for writing and acting. He learned to interact with the public effectively and discovered that to be convincing, as an actor, he must exaggerate! Voltaire was both prone to flattery and exercised keen observations for his day, the pearls of wisdom of which are still quoted today.
Voltaire, it seems, was also a kind of a charmer who could convince others to do his bidding.
Easy-going and flamboyant his company was always in demand. He served up his prose and poetry with a spicy wit and inspired more than a generation.
So next time you feel a little less than positive, think of Voltaire and act happy despite the appearance of the opposite. Dance, write a poem, or sing a song. Before you know it, you will be feeling all well inside again. Life is too short for any of that! We just can’t let those rainy appearances ruin our days.
