‘La folie de la Révolution fut de vouloir instituer la vertu sur la terre. Quand on veut rendre les hommes bons et sages, libres, modérés, généreux, on est amené fatalement à vouloir les tuer tous.’
‘The madness of the Revolution was to try to instigate virtue on Earth. When one wants to make men good and wise, moderate and generous, inevitably one wants to kill them all.’
Anatole France (1844–1924), French writer, in his book Les Opinions de M. Jérôme Coignard
‘A quoi devons-nous la liberté, sinon aux émeutes populaires?’
‘To what do we owe our freedom, if not to riots by the people?’
Jean-Paul Marat (1743–93), French journalist and politician, in a speech to the Assemblée