The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.
Maximilien RobespierreRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Robespierre argues that terror serves justice by addressing the urgent needs of society within a democratic framework.
In this quote, Maximilien Robespierre posits that terror is an instrument of justice that arises from virtue and is necessary for the protection of the state and its democratic principles. He suggests that it is not merely a separate concept, but rather a natural outcome of a society that aims to meet the most pressing demands of its people, especially during tumultuous times.
Themes
TerrorJusticeDemocracyVirtueSociety
In practice
Example use cases
During a political debate, one could use this quote to emphasize the necessity of strong measures for maintaining justice.
More from Maximilien Robespierre
All quotes →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 RobespierreRead
Any institution which does not suppose the people good, and the magistrate corruptible, is evil.
Maximilien RobespierreRead
Any law which violates the inalienable rights of man is essentially unjust and tyrannical; it is not a law at all.
Maximilien RobespierreRead
The revolution is the war of liberty against its enemies. The constitution is the rule of liberty against its enemies. The constitution is the rule of liberty when victorious and peaceable.
Maximilien RobespierreRead
Peoples do not judge in the same way as courts of law; they do not hand down sentences, they throw thunderbolts; they do not condemn kings, they drop them back into the void; and this justice is worth just as much as that of the courts.
Maximilien RobespierreRead
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