"A few acres of snow" (in the original French, "quelques arpents de neige" with "vers le Canada") is one of several quotations from Voltaire, the 18th-century writer, which are representative of his sneering evaluation of Canada, and by extension New France, as lacking economic value and strategic importance to 18th-century France. The exact phrase first appears in 1758 in chapter 23 of Voltaire's book Candide, although the phrase "a few acres of ice" appeared in a letter he wrote in 1757. Voltaire wrote similar sarcastic remarks in other works.
Read more about A Few Acres Of Snow: Historical Context of The Quotations, Modern Usage
Famous quotes containing the words acres and/or snow:
“Those holy fields,
Over whose acres walked those blessed feet
Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed
For our advantage on the bitter cross.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The maples
Stood uniform in buckets, and the steam
Of sap and snow rolled off the sugarhouse.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)