Quote by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: “This is the best of all possible worlds.”

Leibniz argued that God, being perfect, must have created the best world that could possibly exist — even with all its evil and suffering. He didn't mean this world is perfect; he meant no other arrangement would be less bad overall. It is an argument about logic and divine nature, not about comfort.

The Theodicy was published in 1710, five years before the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 that would make this claim seem obscene to many European thinkers, including Voltaire. In 1710, optimistic theodicy was a serious philosophical position debated across the academies of Europe rather than a punchline.

German polymath born in 1646 who made foundational contributions to mathematics, philosophy, and science. He developed calculus independently of Newton, and his philosophical system presented God, nature, and human experience as a pre-established harmony. His Theodicy attempted to reconcile divine goodness with the existence of evil.