Candide, a pure and sincere young man, is brought up in a poor castle of a poor, but vain Westphalian baron with his son and daughter. Their home teacher, Dr. Pangloss, a homegrown metaphysical philosopher, taught the children that they live in the best of worlds, where everything has cause and effect, and events tend to a happy ending.

The misfortunes of Candida and his incredible journeys begin when he is expelled from the castle for his fascination with the beautiful daughter of Baron Kunigunda.

In order not to starve to death, Candide is recruited into the Bulgarian army, where he is whipped to death. He barely escapes death in a terrible battle and flees to Holland. There he meets his philosophy teacher, dying of syphilis. He is being treated out of mercy, and he gives Candid terrible news about the extermination of the Baron's family by the Bulgarians. Candide first questioned the optimistic philosophy of his teacher, so shocked by his experienced and terrible news. Friends sail to Portugal, and as soon as they step ashore, a terrible earthquake begins. Wounded, they fall into the hands of the Inquisition for preaching about the need for free will for a person, and the philosopher must be burned at the stake so that this helps calm the earthquake. Candida is whipped with rods and thrown to die on the street. An unfamiliar old woman picks him up, takes care of him and invites him to a magnificent palace, where his beloved Kunigund meets him. It turned out that she miraculously survived and was resold by the Bulgarians to a wealthy Portuguese Jew, who was forced to share it with the Grand Inquisitor himself. Suddenly a Jew, the owner of Kunigunda, appears at the door. Candide first kills him, and then the Grand Inquisitor. All three decide to run away, but along the way a monk steals from Kunigunda the jewelry gifted to her by the Grand Inquisitor. They hardly get to the port and there they board a ship sailing in Buenos Aires. There, they first of all look for the governor to get married, but the governor decides that such a beautiful girl should belong to him, and makes her an offer that she does not mind accepting. At that very moment, the old woman sees through the window how a monk robbed them from a ship that has approached the harbor and tries to sell jewelry to a jeweler, but he recognizes the property of the Grand Inquisitor in them. Already on the gallows, the thief confesses to theft and describes in detail our heroes. Servant Candida Kakambo persuades him to flee immediately, not without reason believing that the women will somehow get out. They are sent to the possession of the Jesuits in Paraguay, who profess Christian kings in Europe, and here they conquer the land from them. In the so-called father, Colonel Candide recognizes the Baron, the brother of Kunigunda. He also miraculously survived the battle in the castle and was a whim of fate among the Jesuits. Upon learning of Candid’s desire to marry his sister, the baron tries to kill the infamous insolent, but he falls wounded. Candide and Kakambo flee and are captured by wild Oreylons, who, thinking that their friends are Jesuit servants, are going to eat them. Candide argues that he had just killed the father of the colonel, and again escapes death. So life once again confirmed the correctness of Kakambo, who believed that a crime in one world could benefit in another.

On the way from the Oreylons, Candide and Kakambo, having strayed from the road, fall into the legendary land of Eldorado, about which there were wonderful tales in Europe that gold there is valued no more than sand. Eldorado was surrounded by impregnable cliffs, so no one could get in there, and the inhabitants themselves never left their country. So they maintained their original moral purity and bliss.Everyone seemed to live in contentment and gaiety; people worked peacefully; there were no prisons or crimes in the country. In prayers, no one asked for blessings from the Almighty, but only thanked Him for what he already had. No one acted under compulsion: the propensity for tyranny was absent both in the state and in the characters of people. When meeting with the monarch of the country, guests usually kissed him on both cheeks. The king persuades Candida to stay in his country, since it is better to live where you like. But friends really wanted to appear rich at home, as well as connect with Kunigunda. The king, at their request, gives friends a hundred sheep loaded with gold and gems. An amazing machine carries them through the mountains, and they leave the blessed land, where in reality everything is happening for the better, and which they will always regret.

As they move from the borders of Eldorado to the city of Suriname, all but two sheep die. In Suriname, they learn that in Buenos Aires they are still being sought for the murder of the Grand Inquisitor, and Kunigunda became the governor's favorite concubine. It was decided that Kakambo alone would go to buy the beauty, and Candide would go to the free republic of Venice and wait for them there. Almost all of his treasures are stolen by a crook merchant, and the judge still punishes him with a fine. After these incidents, the baseness of the human soul once again terrifies Candida. Therefore, as a fellow traveler, the young man decides to choose the most miserable person who is offended by the fate of. As such, he considered Martin, who, after suffering troubles, became a deep pessimist. Together they sail to France, and along the way Martin convinces Candid that in the nature of man lies, kill and betray his neighbor, and everywhere people are equally unhappy and suffer from injustice.

In Paris, Candide gets acquainted with local customs and customs. Both that and another very disappoints him, and Martin only becomes stronger in philosophy of pessimism. Candida is immediately surrounded by scammers, flattery and deceit they pull money from him. At the same time, everyone uses the incredible gullibility of the young man, which he retained, despite all the misfortunes. He tells one rogue about his love for the beautiful Kunigund and his plan to meet her in Venice. In response to his sweet frankness, Candida is being set up a trap, he faces a prison, but, having bribed the guards, his friends are saved on a ship sailing to England. On the English coast, they observe the completely senseless execution of an innocent admiral. From England, Candide finally gets to Venice, thinking only of a meeting with the beloved Kunigunda. But there he does not find her, but a new example of human sorrows - a servant from his native castle. Her life leads to prostitution, and Candide wants to help her with money, although the philosopher Martin predicts that none of this will work. In the end, they meet her in an even more distressed state. The realization that suffering is inevitable for everyone makes Candid look for someone who is alien to sorrow. Such was considered one noble Venetian. But, visiting this person, Candide is convinced that happiness for him lies in criticism and discontent with others, as well as in the denial of any beauty. Finally, he discovers his Kakambo in the most miserable position. He says that, having paid a huge ransom for Kunigund, they were attacked by pirates, and they sold Kunigund to serve in Constantinople. Even worse, she lost all her beauty. Candide decides that, as a man of honor, he must still find his beloved, and goes to Constantinople. But on the ship, among the slaves, he recognizes Dr. Pangloss and the baron himself stabbed to death. They miraculously escaped death, and fate brought them into difficult ways by slaves on the ship. Candide immediately buys them and gives the remaining money for Kunigunda, the old woman and a small farm.

Although Kunigunda became very ugly, she insisted on marrying Candide.Small society had no choice but to live and work on the farm. Life was truly painful. Nobody wanted to work, boredom was terrible, and it only remained that to philosophize endlessly. They argued that it was preferable: to subject themselves to as many terrible trials and vicissitudes of fate as those that they experienced, or to doom themselves to the terrible boredom of an inactive life. Nobody knew a decent answer. Pangloss lost faith in optimism, but Martin, on the contrary, became convinced that people everywhere were equally ill, and suffered difficulties with humility. But here they meet a man living a closed life on his farm and quite happy with his fate. He says that any ambition and pride are fatal and sinful, and that only work for which all people were created can save us from the greatest evil: boredom, vice and need. Work in his garden without idle talk, so Candide makes a saving decision. The community works hard, and the land rewards them a hundredfold. “We need to cultivate our garden,” Candide does not tire of reminding them.