No man has ceased to believe in God before having decided that he should not exist; no book would produce atheism, and no book can restore faith. Joseph de Maistre Read Quote
Government is a true religion: it has its dogmas, its mysteries, its priests. To submit it to the individual discussion is to destroy it; it is given life only through the national mind, that is to say, by political faith, which is a creed. Joseph de Maistre Read Quote
There is no man who desires as passionately as a Russian. If we could imprison a Russian desire beneath a fortress, that fortress would explode. Joseph de Maistre Read Quote
Man is so muddled, so dependent on the things immediately before his eyes, that every day even the most submissive believer can be seen to risk the torments of the afterlife for the smallest pleasure. Joseph de Maistre Read Quote
All pain is a punishment, and every punishment is inflicted for love as much as for justice. Joseph de Maistre Read Quote
Man in harmony with his Creator is sublime, and his action is creative; equally, once he separates himself from God and acts alone, he does not cease to be powerful, since this is the privilege of his nature, but his acts are negative and lead only to destruction. Joseph de Maistre Read Quote
We are all bound to the throne of the Supreme Being by a flexible chain which restrains without enslaving us. The most wonderful aspect of the universal scheme of things is the action of free beings under divine guidance. Joseph de Maistre Read Quote
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. Joseph de Maistre Read Quote
