Quotes by Maximilien Robespierre

About Maximilien Robespierre:

Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre was a French lawyer and politician, and one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror.
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

Terror is only justice: prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue; it is less a distinct principle than a natural consequence of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing wants of the country.

Maximilien Robespierre

The king must die so that the country can live.

Maximilien Robespierre

Any law which violates the inalienable rights of man is essentially unjust and tyrannical; it is not a law at all.

Maximilien Robespierre

Crime butchers innocence to secure a throne, and innocence struggles with all its might against the attempts of crime.

Maximilien Robespierre

To punish the oppressors of humanity is clemency; to forgive them is cruelty.

Maximilien Robespierre

The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.

Maximilien Robespierre

Again, it may be said, that to love justice and equality the people need no great effort of virtue; it is sufficient that they love themselves.

Maximilien Robespierre

Atheism is aristocratic; the idea of a great Being that watches over oppressed innocence and punishes triumphant crime is altogether popular.

Maximilien Robespierre

Any institution which does not suppose the people good, and the magistrate corruptible, is evil.

Maximilien Robespierre

The general will rules in society as the private will governs each separate individual.

Maximilien Robespierre

Author Bio

  • NameMaximilien Robespierre
  • DescriptionFrench revolutionary politician
  • BornMay 6, 1758
  • DiedJuly 28, 1794
  • CountryFrance
  • ProfessionPolitician; Lawyer; Journalist