Joseph de Maistre
Joseph de Maistre
Joseph-Marie, comte de Maistrewas 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, ambassador to Russia, and minister of state to the court in Turin...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionDiplomat
Date of Birth1 April 1753
CountryFrance
money men knowing
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.
freedom men wicked
Man in general, if reduced to himself, is too wicked to be free.
heart men may
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.
mean ideas examination
Prejudice does not mean false ideas, but only ... opinions adopted before examination.
constitution made nations
A constitution that is made for all nations is made for none.
education causes weakness
It is not the mediocrity of women's education which makes their weakness; it is their weakness which necessarily causes their mediocrity.
women desire faults
The great fault in women is to desire to be like men.
men curious pleasure
It is one of man's curious idiosyncrasies to create difficulties for the pleasure of resolving them.
men hands sake
Man's destructive hand spares nothing that lives; he kills to feed himself, he kills to clothe himself, he kills to adorn himself, he kills to attack, he kills to defend himself, he kills to instruct himself, he kills to amuse himself, he kills for the sake of killing.
people leader democracy
In a democracy people get the leaders they deserve.
love men people
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.
country freedom government
Every country has the government it deserves.
motivational success patience
To know how to wait. It is the great secret of success.