French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist
To insure the adoration of a theorem for any length of time, faith is not enough, a police force is needed as well.
Men are convinced of your arguments, your sincerity, and the seriousness of your efforts only by your death.
We get into the habit of living before acquiring the habit of thinking. In that race which daily hastens us towards death, the body maintains its irreparable lead.
In order to speak about all and to all, one has to speak of what all know and of the reality common to us all. The sea, rains, necessity, desire, the struggle against death... these are things that unite us all.
For centuries the death penalty, often accompanied by barbarous refinements, has been trying to hold crime in check; yet crime persists. Why? Because the instincts that are warring in man are not, as the law claims, constant forces in a state of equilibrium.
There will be no lasting peace either in the heart of individuals or in social customs until death is outlawed.
I am not made for politics because I am incapable of wanting or accepting the death of the adversary.
It is a kind of spiritual snobbery that makes people think they can be happy without money.
To correct a natural indifference I was placed half-way between misery and the sun. Misery kept me from believing that all was well under the sun, and the sun taught me that history wasn't everything.
Those who weep for the happy periods which they encounter in history acknowledge what they want; not the alleviation but the silencing of misery.