No man can be subject to any laws, excepting those which have received the assent of himself or his representatives and which are promulgated beforehand and applied legally.
Marquis De LafayetteRead
Do not calculate what I have done, for I shall accept no recompense. Calculate the public advantage, the welfare and liberty of my country, and believe that I shall refuse no burden, no danger, provided that, at the hour of tranquillity, I may return to private life, for there now remains but one step for my ambition - that of arriving at zero.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a selfless commitment to the greater good over personal gain.
In this quote, Marquis De Lafayette expresses a profound dedication to public service and the welfare of his country. He emphasizes the importance of prioritizing collective benefits and liberty over individual accomplishments or rewards, indicating that his true ambition lies not in personal gain but in achieving a state of balance or 'zero' for the well-being of society. Lafayette’s words inspire the idea that true leadership is marked by self-sacrifice and the readiness to face challenges for the greater good.
Themes
SelflessnessServicePublic GoodLeadershipSacrifice
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about civic responsibility during a community gathering.
More from Marquis De Lafayette
All quotes →May the States be so bound to each other as forever to defy European politics. Upon that union, their consequence, their happiness, will depend. This is the first wish of a heart more truly American than words can express.
Marquis De LafayetteRead
Insurrection is the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties.
Marquis De LafayetteRead
True republicanism is the sovereignty of the people. There are natural and imprescriptible rights which an entire nation has no right to violate.
Marquis De LafayetteRead
The affairs of America I shall ever look upon as my first business whilst I am in Europe. Any confidence from the king and ministers, any popularity I may have among my own countrymen, any means in my power, shall be, to the best of my skill, and till the end of my life, exerted in behalf of an interest I have so much at heart.
Marquis De LafayetteRead
The exercise of natural rights has no limits but such as will ensure their enjoyment to other members of society.
Marquis De LafayetteRead
Similar quotes
For if we allow that human life is always guided by reason, we destroy the premise that life is possible at all.
Leo TolstoyRead
He does it with better grace, but I do it more natural.
William ShakespeareRead
Choice not chance determines your destiny [my family motto...credited to Aristotle]
AristotleRead
I believe that before anything else I'm a human being -- just as much as you are... or at any rate I shall try to become one. I know quite well that most people would agree with you, Torvald, and that you have warrant for it in books; but I can't be satisfied any longer with what most people say, and with what's in books. I must think things out for myself and try to understand them.
Henrik IbsenRead
Heaven's Way gives no favors. It always remains with good people.
LaoziRead
Everything is only for a day, both that which remembers and that which is remembered. Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom thyself to consider that the nature of the Universe loves nothing so much as to change the things which are and to make new things like them. For everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be.
Marcus AureliusRead