Quotes by Joseph de Maistre

About Joseph de Maistre:

Joseph-Marie, comte de Maistre was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, and diplomat. He defended hierarchical societies and a monarchical State in the period immediately following the French Revolution. Maistre was a subject of the King of Piedmont-Sardinia, whom he served as member of the Savoy Senate (1787–1792), ambassador to Russia (1803–1817), and minister of state to the court in Turin (1817–1821).
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[M]an cannot be wicked without being evil, nor evil without being degraded, nor degraded without being punished, nor punished without being guilty. In short … there is nothing so intrinsically plausible as the theory of original sin.

Joseph de Maistre

There is no philosophy without the art of ignoring objections.

Joseph de Maistre

Every country has the government it deserves.

Joseph de Maistre

We are tainted by modern philosophy which has taught us that all is good, whereas evil has polluted everything and in a very real sense all is evil, since nothing is in its proper place.

Joseph de Maistre

All pain is a punishment, and every punishment is inflicted for love as much as for justice.

Joseph de Maistre

I don't know what a scoundrel is like, but I know what a respectable man is like, and it's enough to make one's flesh creep.

Joseph de Maistre

If there was no moral evil upon earth, there would be no physical evil.

Joseph de Maistre

A constitution that is made for all nations is made for none.

Joseph de Maistre

Man in general, if reduced to himself, is too wicked to be free.

Joseph de Maistre

We are all bound to the throne of the Supreme Being by a flexible chain which restrains without enslaving us. The most wonderful aspect of the universal scheme of things is the action of free beings under divine guidance.

Joseph de Maistre

In the works of man, everything is as poor as its author; vision is confined, means are limited, scope is restricted, movements are labored, and results are humdrum.

Joseph de Maistre

Man is so muddled, so dependent on the things immediately before his eyes, that every day even the most submissive believer can be seen to risk the torments of the afterlife for the smallest pleasure.

Joseph de Maistre

There is no man who desires as passionately as a Russian. If we could imprison a Russian desire beneath a fortress, that fortress would explode.

Joseph de Maistre

It is one of man's curious idiosyncrasies to create difficulties for the pleasure of resolving them.

Joseph de Maistre

Wherever an altar is found, there civilization exists.

Joseph de Maistre

To hear these defenders of democracy talk, one would think that the people deliberate like a committee of wise men, whereas in truth judicial murders, foolhardy undertakings, wild choices, and above all foolish and disastrous wars are eminently the p...

Joseph de Maistre

I do not know what the heart of a rascal may be, but I know what is in the heart of an honest man; it is horrible.

Joseph de Maistre

War is thus divine in itself, since it is a law of the world. War is divine through its consequences of a supernatural nature which are as much general as particular. War is divine in the mysterious glory that surrounds it and in the no less inexplic...

Joseph de Maistre

False opinions are like false money, struck first of all by guilty men and thereafter circulated by honest people who perpetuate the crime without knowing what they are doing.

Joseph de Maistre

Man is insatiable for power; he is infantile in his desires and, always discontented with what he has, loves only what he has not. People complain of the despotism of princes; they ought to complain of the despotism of man.

Joseph de Maistre

Author Bio

  • NameJoseph de Maistre
  • DescriptionSavoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, and diplomat
  • AliasesJoseph Marie de Maistre
  • BornApril 1, 1753
  • DiedFebruary 26, 1821
  • CountryFrance
  • ProfessionPhilosopher; Politician; Writer; Historian