Any institution which does not suppose the people good, and the magistrate corruptible, is evil.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
The general will rules in society as the private will governs each separate individual.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
To punish the oppressors of humanity is clemency; to forgive them is cruelty.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
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.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
Crime butchers innocence to secure a throne, and innocence struggles with all its might against the attempts of crime.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
Any law which violates the inalienable rights of man is essentially unjust and tyrannical; it is not a law at all.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
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.
